


Winry Rockbell and the Wizard Rebels

by LizzieJean



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Automail, Automail Surgery, Blood and Injury, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Crossover, F/M, Kidnapping, Mild Gore, Post-Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Post-Promised Day, magic vs alchemy, mild alcohol consumption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25800691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzieJean/pseuds/LizzieJean
Summary: Ed has gone missing while on a research trip. Lucky for him, Winry installed a tracking device in his leg automail after Promised Day and decides to go looking for him. On her quest, she stumbles upon Wizard London.Set during the summer before Harry’s fifth year (a few weeks before the dementor attack), and after FMAB.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Comments: 122
Kudos: 399
Collections: Clever Crossovers & Fantastic Fusions, Reading is one form of escape. Running for your life is another.





	1. The Quest Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Ed has alchemy and one automail limb (his leg). Ed stayed a State Alchemist, but still went West while Al went East like at the end of Brotherhood. He and Winry are engaged and haven’t seen each other since the proposal but they send letters back and forth and call each other all the time.

Winry Rockbell double checked her bags while waiting for the train to arrive. Her automail kit was stuffed with everything she could carry, which was quite a lot. The rest of her things, like clothes and her toothbrush, were tightly packed into a backpack.

Winry shifted from one foot to the other. She had never left Amestris before.

The train pulled up right on time.

As the first person on board, Winry got to have a window seat. The soft morning light highlighted a puff of dust when she sat down on the soft bench. Her automail case took up the rest of the bench space, so nobody sat next to her. That was alright; she wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone right now. 

Last night Mustang had called to inform Winry that Ed had gone missing.

Well, Mustang didn’t say Ed was missing, just that he had missed a couple check-ins, but Winry knew her fiancé. He was a bit of a trouble magnet. There was no doubt in her mind that something had happened. She wasn’t terribly worried. Ed could take care of himself. But something was telling her that he might need help this time.

Mustang wanted to know if Winry had any information, like if Ed had contacted her.

Winry had something a little better than that.

After Promised Day, when Ed and Al had finally come back home, Winry had installed a tracking device in Ed’s automail leg. She told herself it was only for emergencies. Those long months between Briggs and Promised Day where Ed had been missing had been terrible. Winry wasn’t going to let that happen again.

The tracker said that Ed was still in England. The last letter Winry had received had been from London, but the tracker said that Ed was a bit north of that. 

She called Mustang back to share this and wound up with a ticket to England and a wish of good luck. Mustang’s team was busy with something and weren’t available to go looking for Edward until the end of the week. 

So here she was, on a train to a country she knew almost nothing about.

Countryside melted into cityscapes as Winry moved west. She had to change trains a couple times to get from Amestris to England, but the trip only took a little over a day. Her legs were cramped by the end of the trip. She stumbled out of the train in late afternoon into a gray train station in London, the last place he said he was. 

“Now, Ed, where are you?” Winry said to herself. She pulled out the tracking device and frowned. 

The little red dot that represented Ed was blurry, and the tracker couldn’t seem to come to a conclusion on his exact location.

The mechanic sighed. “That’s what I get for trusting someone else’s technology…”

The train station was more crowded than any other Winry had visited before. Most people wore dull colored clothes, though there were a few wearing highly saturated dresses with matching pointy hats. She wondered what type of country could produce two wildly varying fashion senses.

A child passing by eating a pretzel reminded Winry’s stomach that she hadn’t eaten in a while, so she left the station to start her quest. First food, then Ed.

  


* * *

  


Outside the train station, Winry looked around for a local food place.

There was one hole-in-the-wall type shop that the dull-clothed people avoided, but the pointy-hat people flocked to. Ed, with his loud red coat, would have fit in with those people. So the Leaky Cauldron, as it was called, was probably a good place to go for finding both food and Ed. 

The Leaky Cauldron was dark but cosy. Most of the customers were adults, but there were a few groups of kids and teens there as well. The man at the bar, Tom, was easy to talk to during her meal. Apparently the Leaky Cauldron was also an inn.

Winry was happy to settle in for the night. Traveling by train was exhausting. She locked her automail case and her traveling bag in her room and went back downstairs to people-watch and drink some cider.

Customers entered the establishment through both the front and back doors, which Winry thought was odd. When she had passed by the back door earlier, she had looked outside and seen nothing but a tiny enclosed courtyard, yet there was a steady stream of people moving through that door. 

One of the customers was a bit shocking to look at. 

He had a scarred face and an automail eye. It was large and electric blue. Winry had never seen such a thing before! She was highly impressed at whoever had designed such a beautiful piece of machinery. What was more shocking was that the man walked with a limp, and a close look at his legs revealed he had a wooden peg instead of automail.

Who did automail on an eye but left a limb without it? She considered that it was possible the man couldn’t afford both, but decided that she still wanted to know who made his eye.

Winry leapt off the barstool and walked up to the man. 

“Excuse me, sir?”

“What?” the man growled. The man’s gruff demeanor was no deterrent to Winry!

“Who’s your mechanic?”

“My what?”

Winry pointed to her own eye. “I want to know who was able to make your eye. It’s a really impressive bit of automail!”

The blue eye whizzed around in its socket. 

“That’s none of your business, lass!” 

The man moved to walk away, but Winry wasn’t going to let him go that easily.

“It’s exactly my business!” she snapped. “I’m an automail mechanic myself, and there are a lot of people I could help if I knew how to make automail eyes.”

“What is this ‘automail’?” the man asked, looking curious despite himself.

He doesn’t know what automail is? Maybe it’s called something else in this country.

“Automail is a prosthetic that is connected to the nerves of your body,” she explained. “It’s powered by your body’s natural electricity, and automail limbs can move naturally. Automail is one of the most wonderful things! Beauty and function together in one!”

The man’s brow furrowed as she spoke, and his blue eye looked her up and down. He opened his mouth to reply, but someone bumped into him. He fell into a fighting stance and pulled out a stick from his sleeve. The new person just crossed his arms, like this startle response was more annoying than threatening. 

“My apologies, Alastor,” said the new person. He didn’t sound sincere. The two men stared at each other for a moment, Alastor glaring and the new guy sneering. “Put that away,” he said, gesturing to Alastor’s stick. 

“If you could just give me the contact info for whoever made your eye,” Winry said, continuing the conversation with Alastor, “I could help you get automail for your leg. Equivalent exchange, you know?”

Winry offered the man a hopeful smile.

“What’s this about your leg, Alastor? Finally deciding to switch to the paranoid model?”

Her smile left and Alastor frowned at the new guy.

“Crawl back into the hole you slithered out of, Severus.” Alastor looked back at Winry. “I’m not interested, lass. And I don’t give out information to strangers.”

Alastor limped out the front door of the Leaky Cauldron, leaving behind a dejected Winry and a smug Severus.

“You horrible man!” Winry whipped around and pointed an accusing finger at Severus. “What kind of person does that? I had almost convinced him to tell me about his mechanic.”

Severus narrowed his eyes and carefully looked at Winry’s face. She was a little discomfited by the scrutiny.

“You didn’t go to Hogwarts…” the man said.

Winry didn’t know what that was, so of course she hadn’t gone there, wherever “there” was.

She shook her head.

Severus made a noncommittal humming noise then brushed off his dark clothes, which absorbed light like coal, and sat down at the bar next to Winry’s spot. A simple gesture to Tom and a drink was slid towards him.

“You know that guy, right?” Winry asked, still standing. She looked out the window but couldn’t see Alastor anymore.

“Yes.”

“Do you know who made his eye for him? I’ve never seen anything like it, and yet his leg was just a stick…” 

“Alastor Moody. He’s as paranoid as they come. He’ll never share his supplier’s name, not even with people he knows. I’m surprised you managed to talk to him for as long as you did, miss…”

“Winry Rockbell, of Rockbell Automail.” Winry sat back down.

“Severus Snape, professor of Hogwarts.”

Winry took a quick sip of her drink to hide her face. This guy was a professor?

“And about Alastor’s leg: of course it’s just a stick, he can’t grow it back.”

Winry nearly choked on her drink. She hadn’t pegged this guy as someone with a sense of humor.

“Well, I wouldn’t expect him to grow it back,” she rolled her eyes. “Automail is the next best thing. I was just surprised that someone managed to make one work for his eye.”

“So this automail-” Severus waved a hand around slowly, “-it works just like a normal limb?”

“For the most part! The limbs are heavy so it takes a lot of physical therapy to get used to them, and since there is no feeling some people have trouble with dexterity. My fiancé used to be right handed but had to switch to his left when he got automail.”

Severus nodded and took a sip of his drink.

“And you make… automail?”

“I’m one of the best!”

“…Interesting,” Severus said. His left arm twitched violently. He grimaced and gulped down the rest of his drink.

“I must be going now, but it was nice to meet you, Miss Rockbell.”

“You too,” Winry waved. It wasn’t really nice to meet him, but he had given her some information that she wanted.

She yawned. It was getting late, and she had to be well rested to spend the next day looking for Ed. First sleep, then Ed.

  


* * *

  
The next morning Winry got up bright and early. She wore her comfiest shoes (to do lots of walking) and her brightest shirt (to blend in with the people in this part of town).

Downstairs, Tom had breakfast ready for her as part of the room. 

“Any plans for today?” he asked.

Winry stirred some brown sauce into her eggs. The food here was kinda bland compared to Amestris.

“I’m looking for someone,” she admitted. “My fiancé. His name’s Edward Elric. My age, long blond hair, red coat, gold eyes. Have you seen him, by any chance?”

Tom scratched his head. “Can’t say that I have.”

“Well, my plan for today is to find him.”

“If you’re gonna be staying for a while, I recommend stopping by Gringott’s Bank to switch out your currency.”

Winry gulped. She hadn’t thought about money last night and had given the man cenz for her room and board.

“Oh, right! Sorry about that, I’ve never left my country before.”

“It’s fine, miss,” Tom waved away her concern. “We get lots of traveling folk through here. It’s the entrance to the wizarding world of Britain, after all.”

“Wizards?” she chuckled.

Tom froze. His eyes flickered around the nearly empty room before returning to her.

“Are you a muggle?” His voice was hushed.

“What’s a muggle?”

“Someone who can’t do magic.”

Winry blinked. There was definitely something odd about this country’s terminology for things. Calling alchemy magic, what a laugh. Ed hadn’t mentioned that in his letters.

“It’s weird that you call people who can’t do ‘magic’ muggles. People don’t do that in my country…” she shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “I guess I’m a muggle, then, but Ed’s a ‘wizard’.” She didn’t physically do the motion for the quotes, but she did them in her head. 

The tension left Tom’s shoulders and he sent a sad smile to her. 

“I hope you find your Ed soon, then. Dangerous times are brewing…”

That was ominous. Winry shuddered. She quickly finished breakfast and stood up to leave.

“Gringott’s is out back, I can open the entrance for you,” Tom announced.

Winry brushed a hand through her hair. A hidden entrance would explain the movement of the customers she’d witnessed last night.

Tom led the way to the back courtyard and pulled a stick out of his sleeve. With a few well placed taps of the stick, the brick wall opened up into an archway. 

Alchemy without a circle or any reaction light. Interesting. Maybe it was like alkahestry from Xing. Magic from England. Winry nodded her thanks to Tom and stepped through the brick archway.

The street ahead of her was so much more colorful and loud than the one she had seen getting off the train yesterday. She turned around to ask Tom where the bank was, but the wall had closed behind her.

“Why do I always find the alchemy freaks,” she muttered. She shook her head and squared her shoulders. Bank first, then she can ask around for Ed.


	2. Exploring and Investigating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winry searches Diagon Alley and part of Muggle London for Ed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and the kind comments!! I hope you like this chapter

If there were a Rush Valley for alchemists, Diagon Alley would be it. There was an aura of childlike wonder over the whole alley, despite the grungy appearance of most shops. Winry saw things she never imagined: floating brooms, moving posters, a whole store for sticks (which were apparently called _wands_ ). This country’s alchemy, a.k.a magic, seemed to be focused on making fun things.

The bank was all the way at the far end of the alley. The building gleamed with its clean stone facade, standing out from the dingy shops surrounding it.

The workers in the bank looked like the chimeras Ed and Al had befriended from Briggs, but Winry couldn’t figure out what they had been merged with. It would be rude to ask, though, and Winry supposed it didn’t really matter.

Winry mentioned that she had arrived in London for the first time ever, and the bank teller she was talking to gave her two types of currency.

“The coins are for the wizard shops, and the paper notes are for the muggle ones,” the teller explained.

Having two different systems of currency for one country seemed like a nuisance (and none of the coin denominations divided evenly into each other, which was bonkers), but she pocketed the money without complaint.

After the bank, Winry worked her way back down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron, stopping in every store to ask if they’ve seen Ed.

No luck.

No one recognized her description of him. Some people gave her wary looks when she mentioned his gold eyes. She knew gold eyes were rare, but the way people reacted to the mention of them was odd. At least it meant he would be noticeable.

Just as Winry was reaching the end of her energy for the day, she realized she was in the stationery shop and decided to take a break. There was actually a lot of really cool stuff in these stores. Winry bought a few items then powered through the rest of her investigation.

By the time she was done, the sun had set. Most stores closed then, and everyone in the street scattered like a spilled bucket of bolts. 

Winry tagged along behind a group of people as they opened the brick portal to the Leaky Cauldron. Her spot at the bar from the night before was unoccupied again, so she sat there and ordered dinner. It looked like Tom was serving a meal heavily based on mashed potatoes this evening. Winry’s stomach rumbled. She had completely forgotten to eat lunch because she was so focused on her task. At least she had the right money to pay for the food here, now.

Winry ate slowly and tried to plan her next steps. Her quest to find Ed wasn’t progressing well. If only her tracking device worked as well as it claimed to! She resolved to check on the so-called “muggle” side of London tomorrow.

The other patrons of the Leaky Cauldron bustled around in the background. The soothing tones of distant conversations filled the air. Now that she was paying attention, Winry noticed that everyone had their own wands. A mother summoned a ball of light for her children to play with. Someone else used their wand to stir their drink. Tom even filled refilled Winry’s milk glass with a wave of his wand. All this magic around her made her miss Ed and Al more than normal.

Winry sighed a bit, then looked at her bags. She had bought a set of color change ink and paper from the stationery store. She writes a lot of letters, mostly to Ed and Al, but also to her friends from Rush Valley and to Gracia Hughes, and these supplies would be a fun way to spice things up. She pulled out a sheet of blue paper and some red and gold ink. The store also sold feather quills —which Winry thought was cute in an old fashioned way— but she had bought a simple dip pen made from highly polished wood with a metal nib. 

As she finished dinner, Winry sketched out a drawing of Ed with her new supplies. Years of drawing blueprints and hammering out automail parts had given her a good eye for detail and a decent drawing ability. She first drew a close up of Ed’s face as realistically as she could and then a little cartoon drawing of his body to show off his cloak. Maybe if she had something to show people she would have more luck finding him.

Someone slid into the seat next to her.

“Nice drawing.”

She looked up.

“Oh! Severus,” she said, surprised. She really hadn’t expected to see the man ever again. He looked worse than he did yesterday. His skin was paler, he had dark circles under his eyes, and his hands held a slight tremor.

Tom brought Severus a drink (he must be a regular, Tom didn’t have to ask what he wanted last night, either) and the man sipped it while looking at the drawing.

“Who is it?” he asked, frowning slightly.

Winry looked away from him and back at the paper. The ink flashed from gold to red.

“This? It’s my fiancé, Ed. I think he’s gone missing, so I spent all day looking for him, but nobody around here’s seen him.”

“He looks familiar…” Severus said quietly. 

“Really?” She could hit herself in the head with her own wrench if he’s seen Ed.

“It’s hard to tell. I’ve had a long day. Could I keep a copy of this?” He gestured at the drawing.

Winry nodded. 

She reached down to pull another paper out of her bags, but Severus took out his wand at the same time. He waved it over the paper, and suddenly there were two identical drawings of Ed on the countertop. She put the bags back down and looked at the drawings.

“That’s amazing!”

“It’s just a simple duplication spell,” Severus responded, a concerned furrow in his brow. 

“That’s magic right? I’ve seen bits of it all day but I’m still getting used to it. It’s so different from alchemy.”

Severus’s eyes widened slightly. His eyes glanced around the room quickly, reminding Winry a bit of Alastor from the first night and of Tom from this morning. 

“Alchemy?”

“Yeah, that’s what it’s called in my country. Ed’s an alchemist. One of the best.”

A small frown passed Severus’s face, but he erased the expression with a drink.

“I think it’s funny you call it magic here,” she continued. “It all seems like magic to me, but Ed is adamant that alchemy is a science with rules. But new things always look like magic if you don’t know how they work.”

“How can this Ed of yours be an alchemist? There’s only a handful of people who are able to understand that art, and they’re all brilliant scholars who’ve spent lifetimes uncovering the secrets of alchemy.”

“Lots of people in my country are alchemists! And Ed’s a prodigy, he taught it to himself when he was five.” Al learned it when he was four, but Winry didn’t feel the need to tell this stranger about Al. Everyone who knew him still had a highly-active protective streak when it came to Al, even though he’s been back to normal for two years now.

Severus looked closely at Winry’s face, searching for mockery or lying, perhaps. And was that a hint of fear in his face? She gave him her best “you are an idiot and I know what I’m talking about” stare, and he relented. A tremor raced through his arms and he nearly toppled his drink, but he seemed unconcerned with his physical state.

“What is alchemy like, in your country?” Severus asked.

Winry shared a couple of the stories about Ed that had become something like folklore in Amestris: the Alchemist of the People comes to town, beats up the capitalists, and saves the day. Winry was fully aware that she was rambling, but there was something strange about the way Severus was reacting to her. Severus got twitchier the more Winry talked about Ed, but he kept prodding her for more information about alchemy. 

“Look, just go to Amestris and ask the alchemists there! I’m not here to answer questions for you, I’m here to find Ed!” she finally snapped. She’d had a long day and her patience had worn thin.

Severus had the good nature to apologize for his interrogation, but didn’t look like he regretted it at all. He did offer her some information about potions, which turned out to be the subject he taught. She wondered if he was a good teacher or if he was this cranky at work, too, but it was interesting to hear what potions could do. There were a lot of people who could benefit from having access to healing potions and scar creams. Maybe she could get a book on the subject while in town.

Conversation wound down as the evening drew to a close, and Severus got up to leave.

“I’ll give the drawing of Ed to some people, see if anyone recognizes him. And if I remember where I’ve seen him before, I’ll let you know. See you tomorrow, here, same time?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Severus nodded sharply, then turned around. His clothes swirled around him like oil down a funnel, and he left.

  


* * *

  


After yesterday’s lack of success looking around the magic shops, Winry dedicated this new day to the non-magic part of town. Unfortunately, these people didn’t seem to recognize Ed either. You’d think people would remember a man wearing a neon red coat.

Winry entered the twentieth store of the day and headed straight for the shopkeeper.

“Excuse me,” Winry said. She held up the drawing she made of Ed. “Do you recognize this man?”

The shopkeeper, who had initially regarded Winry with polite boredom, let her jaw drop with a gasp.

“Yes, Actually! I thought he was a figment of my imagination. There was a fight —maybe it was a mugging?— on the street a few days ago, and this guy was there. I think he was trying to help. I went to the back room to call someone, but when I came back everyone was gone.”

“Can you tell me anything about the people in the fight?”

The shopkeeper tapped her finger against her chin in thought.

“That’s odd,” she said, frowning. “I don’t remember anything else.”

“Do you think the wizards were involved?” Winry asked.

The shopkeeper’s eyes glazed over, and she stared off into space.

“Um, miss?”

Winry tried waving her hands in front of the shopkeeper’s face, as well as snapping her fingers, but the glazed-over look remained.

Winry left the unresponsive shopkeeper and went to investigate the street outside. 

Everything looked normal; no signs of a fight. But, wait…

On one part of the sidewalk, where the curb curved down to the street, Winry spotted an unnatural crater. She crouched down —ignoring irritated passersby— and examined the crater.

Transmutation marks!

Ed must have been here.

The rest of the street was unscathed, which was odd. She’d seen first-hand the level of damage Ed can create in a fight. It was possible that he’d simply managed to intimidate the muggers and dissipate the fight. But it was much more likely that something bad had happened.

Winry spent the rest of the afternoon interrogating the people in all the shops that could see that part of the street from their windows. No one else could remember anything like that other shopkeeper had, but a few reacted the same way when she mentioned wizards.

She checked her tracker again, but it was still as broken as Den’s automail after digging too much in the yard. That is: it wasn’t very broken, but it still wasn’t working quite right.

When the sun began to set over the city, Winry made her way back to the Leaky Cauldron and settled into her usual spot. As she ate dinner, she went over the facts she had learned.

Ed was definitely in London recently and had gotten into a fight. Wizards and alchemists weren’t the same thing, and it was possible that wizards can mess with people’s brains (she wasn’t 100% positive, though). No one had automail limbs (except for Alastor and his eye); they all used plastic ones like the kind she has for Ed’s backups. Wizards were probably responsible for Ed going missing. And Severus might have a lead for her. Maybe.

Mr. Cranky himself arrived just as she finished dinner, again.

“I have a friend who might be interested in getting automail,” Severus announced as slid onto the bar stool next to Winry. This was not what Winry wanted to hear, but she went along with this thread of conversation for now.

“Oh, is it Alastor?” Winry asked.

“No, we’re not friends,” Severus scoffed. 

“Yeah, based on the way you interacted I didn’t think so.”

Severus smirked a bit, like he was pleased with his behavior from before. She was still pissed that he had chased Alastor off before she had gotten the name of the person who had made his eye. She didn’t care how cagey Alastor was, her determination would have gotten her the information.

“What limb does your friend need?”

“Left arm.”

“Full arm?”

“Just the forearm.” He gestured just below crook of his elbow on his own arm. His hands were trembling more than they had the night before. In fact, he looked terrible, like he hadn’t gotten any sleep in days.

Winry frowned.

“It’s a little hard to anchor automail so close to the joint like that,” she hummed in thought. “I might have to remove the elbow and replace that as well…”

“Oh, is it easier to do that?” Severus said, with careful nonchalance.

“Sometimes.” Winry shrugged. “It all depends on the person, and on the condition of the remaining limb. It’s better to have more limb to work with, so I can have more options if I need to take any more away. For example, replacing a whole arm adds a lot of weight, so we tend to anchor automail to the collarbone and ribcage. Sometimes we have to take out a bit of the shoulder to do it.”

Severus rubbed his own shoulder.

“How long does automail surgery take?”

“A few hours if everything goes well, but that’s just to install the ports. Making the limbs can take around a week, usually.” At one point in her life, Winry had been willing to stay up for three days straight to make new limbs, but that energy was reserved just for Ed nowadays. She wasn't being specific about including all the details about automail because she knew Severus was keeping something secret from her.

“Can you do the surgery tomorrow?” he asked.

“No, I need to find Ed first,” Winry said firmly. “If it’s urgent, I can recommend anoth-”

“You’ve mentioned equivalent exchange,” he interrupted. “What if I find Ed? If I can find him, will that be enough to have you do it tomorrow?”

Winry narrowed her eyes at him.

“Do you know where he is?” she asked in a tone of voice that made most people shiver.

“No, but I might have a lead,” he answered, as smooth as freshly greased gears. Winry hadn’t spent a lot of time with Roy Mustang, but she knew a lie when she heard one. This guy was almost as good as the General, but not quite at his level.

She didn’t like this, but she wasn’t going to pass up a lead on finding Ed.

“Fine, if you know where Ed is I’ll do the surgery tomorrow. He better be okay.”

“We’ll find out when I locate him,” Severus summoned a small piece of paper from his wand. “Meet me on that street tomorrow, at the time written. Bring your surgical supplies.”

_Grimmauld Place, 10 a.m._ There was no number address on the paper.

Winry watched Severus leave out the back door. She waited a few minutes then went out the front door to find a payphone on the muggle streets. She hadn’t spotted any in Diagon Alley, for some reason.

The phone rang twice.

“Mustang speaking.”

“Hey, it’s Winry. I think I have a lead on Ed.”

Winry gave Roy the information she had gathered on the magical community, as well as her suspicions about Severus Snape. 

“I’ll send a couple members of my team to you,” Roy said. “They’ll get there either late tomorrow or early the day after, depending on the train schedules. Be careful in the meantime.”

That wasn’t fast enough to get there before the scheduled meeting with Severus, but it would have to do.

“Thanks,” Winry said, relieved.

They said goodbye.

Winry was on her own for the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the most Snape-heavy chapter, there's more characters from here on out  
> Up next: Winry gets to meet the Order of the Phoenix!


	3. Surprise Surgery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to Remove a Tattoo and Quit Your Job as a Spy in One Simple Step, by Severus Snape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first half of this chapter has some blood and gore. I think it's pretty mild, but if that stuff bothers you, you can skip down to the second half

In the morning, Winry found herself at Grimmauld Place, standing in an empty street.

She looked around. The houses were all a bit shabby. Worn down paint jobs and rusted metal fixtures everywhere. The street itself had poor craftsmanship with house numbers that weren’t even in the right order. Some numbers were even missing.

Winry walked up and down the street, waiting.

Just as she was getting pissed about wasting her time, a loud crack startled her.

Winry whipped her head around and gasped. Severus was standing right behind her, covered in blood and missing part of his left arm.

“I found Ed,” he said through a clenched jaw.

“He didn’t do that, did he?” she asked in horror.

“No, no. I did this. Let’s get inside, quickly. Read this.”

Severus shoved a paper into Winry’s hands, which read: _The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix are located at Number 12 Grimmauld Place._ The handwriting didn’t match the letter from the night before, and what the hell was the Order of the Phoenix?

When she looked up, she could have sworn a new house stood before her. The whole thing was odd, but it was low on her priorities list. She absently stuffed the note into a pocket on her overalls.

“Did you cut your own arm off?!” she shrieked.

Severus was already heading up the stairs.

“Quiet down!” he hissed, looking sharply at the surrounding houses.

Winry hurried inside and shut the door. The lights were on but dim. The inside of the house was rank. A thick layer of dust coated every surface except for a few worn paths on the floor.

“Don’t tell me to quiet down! Tell me what’s going on.”

“You said if I found Ed, you would perform automail surgery,” Severus said, pausing at the bottom of the stairwell to catch his breath.

“You don’t even have a ‘friend’, do you? You were planning this for yourself all along!”

Severus nodded.

“Why?”

He didn’t answer, but instead turned to go up a flight of stairs and into a bedroom. 

The desk next to the bed and the bed itself were the only clean surfaces there. The steady drip from Severus’s arm didn’t bother the dark rug. 

“Why?” Winry repeated, standing in the bedroom doorway. “Why did you do this? And where’s Ed?”

Severus turned around and looked her in the eye. Pain, stress, worry, and a hint of cowardice flickered through his eyes, but his voice was steady when he answered her.

“Once you do the surgery, I will tell you where he is,” he said.

Winry felt her blood boil. People can’t just do things like that. He made a promise and there wasn’t even any guarantee that he would fulfill it. It was possible that he was lying about finding Ed. How could she trust some random guy she met in a bar?

She opened her mouth to demand a real explanation when Severus stumbled. He was suffering from blood loss and needed help. Winry realized that if there was even the slightest chance Severus was telling the truth, it would be worth the effort to perform the surgery on him.

Also, she couldn’t just let him die.

Winry set her automail surgery kit down on the ground and held out a hand to steady Severus, who had stumbled again.

“Were you even listening when I was explaining automail to you? You won’t be able to do anything with this new arm for years, why would you—”

“I wouldn’t be able to help with the rescue effort anyways; it’s better if I’m not there.”

Severus waved his wand around and muttered a few words under his breath, then collapsed in the bed. He gestured vaguely at the bedside table which was now littered with bottles.

“Pain relief potions, blood replenishers, and scar removal salve,” he explained. “Use as needed.”

The automail mechanic glared at her patient.

Winry sat next to the bed and took a closer look at the arm. She couldn’t figure out how he had lost it. Severus’s amputated limb was perfectly smooth. Knife wounds tended to leave marks in the flesh, and explosions left burns and often left shrapnel. Keeping in mind, however, that she hasn’t see a lot of fresh wounds; most people take a long time to decide to get automail. Ed’s were probably the freshest wounds she ever saw, and his bore faint rectangular marks classic to transmutation.

“Why did you cut off your arm? And how?”

Severus panted a bit, the blood loss getting to him. His eyes were becoming glossy and he was losing focus.

“Magic. It was cursed. Couldn’t keep it.” 

He didn’t elaborate. Winry set to work in silence.

  


Her patient, the idiot, held up surprisingly well through the pain of the surgery. 

The clean cut of his arm had little surface area but lots of nerves to control the delicate movements of the fingers. Winry’s years of experience made it a simple job to attach the port.

Once the final bolt was screwed in, Winry wiped off Severus’s arm with a clean rag and began cleaning her tools. Severus looked like he was still awake, so she decided to try questioning him.

“Now, tell me,” she said, “where’s Ed?”

Severus lifted his wand and conjured yet another piece of paper (does he not have pockets?).

“Here,” he whispered. 

Winry snatched the paper out of his grip and read it.

_Winry Rockbell,_

_Ed has been taken prisoner by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, with the intent to be questioned for his strange abilities. He seems fine, and from your stories I think he’ll still be fine for a while longer. I am unable to rescue him from the Dark Lord’s clutches myself due to preexisting circumstances, but I have brought you to the headquarters of a group who oppose the Dark Lord. They are called the Order of the Phoenix, led by Albus Dumbledore. I believe they will be able to save Ed for you._

_They should be having a meeting tonight, so just show up and give them this letter. Their bleeding hearts will feel required to help you._

_He’s currently being held at Malfoy Manor, in the basement dungeons. See the back for a map of the building._

_-Severus Snape_

Winry reread the letter a couple times and looked at the building diagrams on the back of it. Ed really was kidnapped. Her heart ached for him, but she was relieved some of the team from home would be arriving late tonight. She hoped this letter was right and that Ed was okay.

“Who is He-Who-Must-Not—”

She looked at Severus, but the man was passed out.

“Great,” she sighed.

One of the doors in the bedroom led to a bathroom which Winry used to clean her tools. She rinsed out the rags and hung them along the shower curtain rod to dry. 

There were no clocks in the room but by the angle of sunlight through filthy glass, it was early evening. 

Winry examined the potions on the bedside table. She opened and poked at the scar removal salve and blinked when an old scar on her finger disappeared. 

“I’m so keeping this,” she said to herself. She tucked it away in her automail kit.

The other potions were things she had gotten through surgeries without using before, so she left those alone. There were no notes about dosages and she didn’t want to risk poisoning Severus before he could explain his stupid thought process. 

As the sun finally set, the house came alive with noises from the lower floors.

Winry followed the sounds through the house while keeping quiet. She had no idea what kind of people Severus knew and didn’t want to enter a situation blind. A closed door separated Winry from the others. Her heart pounding, she pressed an ear against the door to listen in for a moment.

“…will be moving in next week, along with Hermione. I’ll have them start on cleaning duty and we’ll fix this place up good as new, Sirius!”

“The house has never been clean,” someone scoffed. “I’d rather burn the place down, but it is a safe place for headquarters, even without the Fidelius charm Dumbledore added.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

Hang on, Winry recognized that last voice.

She lifted up a hand to open the door, but it opened on its own, first. 

“We have an intruder,” said Alastor, his wand aimed between her eyes.

  


* * *

  


“How did you get in this house?”

“Um, through the front door…” Winry said. “Severus invited me in,” she added, when no one looked pleased at her first answer.

Alastor kept his wand up and sneered, but not at her.

“You’d think he’d know better than that.”

Odd response, Winry thought, but if this is a secret organization it makes sense they don’t have visitors often. She was more surprised that Severus and Alastor belonged to the same organization.

“Y’all are the Order of the Phoenix, right?” Winry held out the note from Severus. “He said you can help me with something. Which one of you is Dumbledore?”

“…He’s not here, at the moment,” said one of the others. The tall, stern-faced woman stepped forwards to take the note, eyes dancing across the page. “You’re Miss Rockbell?” Winry nodded. “Who’s Ed?”

“My fiancé. Edward Elric.”

Two of the men got the note next and read it together.

“Snape can’t really expect us to go on a rescue mission,” the brown haired one said. “Especially not if You-Know-Who is there. We don’t have the resources. “

“Who?” Winry asked.

“You-Know-Who,” the black haired man said absently, reading the note over his friend’s shoulder.

“I don’t know who.”

Everyone looked shocked at that. 

“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” the red haired woman elaborated, as if that were a helpful sentence.

Winry shrugged.

“Some call him the Dark Lord,” Alastor growled. “Despicable wizard. He’s killed hundreds. It’s unlikely your boyfriend is still alive if he’s being held by You-Know-Who himself.”

That sentence sent a bolt of electricity through Winry’s nerves. She shook off the edge of despair that had been creeping up on her and stood up straight.

“Ed’s going to be just fine,” she declared, “I’m going to make sure of it.”

Alastor finally lowered his wand, an approving gleam in his real eye. 

“But seriously, what’s this bad guy’s name?” she asked.

“If you really want to hear it, Dumbledore is willing to say it,” said the black haired man, passing the note along. “Not many other wizards can stomach it.”

“Will this Dumbledore be able to help me rescue Ed?”

“If anyone can, it’s him,” said the pink haired young woman. “He’s the greatest wizard alive!”

“Great, so I guess I’ll just wait for him.”

“Why don’t you join us for dinner?” the red haired woman offered. Then she raised a hand to her cheek. “We’ve been so rude, haven’t even introduced ourselves. I’m Molly Weasley. And here’s Remus, Sirius, Minerva,” she pointed at each person in turn, “I see you’ve already met Alastor… and last but not least is Nymphad—”

“Tonks! It’s just Tonks!” exclaimed the pink haired woman.

Tonks was the last one to get the letter, and she read it quickly.

“Where is Snape? And why does this note say he’s unable to help?” she asked.

“He’s upstairs, recovering from surgery,” Winry explained.

“Surgery?!” Molly gasped.

Alastor’s mechanical eye swiveled around in its socket before locking in an upwards position.

“Second floor, in one of the bedrooms,” he announced.

A prosthetic eye that not only lets the user see but can look through objects. Incredible!

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here…” Winry started, but the wizards ran off before she could explain.

She caught up to them just as they entered the room. 

“What happened to him?” Remus asked. His face looked a bit green, which highlighted faint scars on his face. 

“Moony, check it out, it’s his left arm…” said Sirius. 

“Do you think You-Know-Who found out he was—” Tonks considered Winry’s presence, “— _you know_ … and blew it off?”

“It wasn’t blown off,” said Winry. All eyes, except Alastor’s blue one, snapped onto her. “Well, I don’t know how he lost it, he said it was ‘magic’, but it was a very clean cut. I’ve seen wounds from explosions and they don’t look like this.”

Molly pulled out her wand and waved it all around Severus’s unconscious body. She frowned and reached for the bottles on the bedside table, measuring out amounts with a practiced hand.

“Who did it to him?” Minerva asked.

“He said he did it to himself. I think he’s been planning it for a couple days,” Winry admitted bitterly, thinking about her previous conversations with Severus. “Said his arm was cursed.”

The wizards glanced at each other and at Snape’s missing limb. Some looked guilty, while others muttered uncomfortably. 

“Was it?” Winry asked. “Cursed, I mean?”

“He brought it upon himself,” grumbled Alastor. 

Molly frowned at Alastor, but said nothing. She just fluffed up Severus’s pillow.

“Dumbledore’s not going to be happy about this,” Minerva sighed. 

“So, he doesn’t have an arm anymore?” Remus asked, shocked. “What’s the metal for?”

“That’s the port,” Winry answered. “Once it’s had time to heal I can build a metal limb and attach it to the live nerves in the port. With a few years of physical therapy he’ll have a fully functioning arm again.”

“Why didn’t he just regrow it?” Tonks asked.

“The Dark Mark, which I suppose is the reason he cursed his arm off, would just come back,” Alastor explained. “Dark magic, that.”

The wizards all shuddered. Winry tucked that information away to ask about later. It was hard with all this new terminology to keep track of what was going on, but Winry thought she was doing pretty well so far.

“Besides, we don’t know how he removed it,” Alastor continued. “Can’t regrow cursed limbs,” he said, pointing to his own missing leg.

“Severus made the same joke about regrowing limbs,” Winry commented.

“Well, it’s true. If you lose a limb in a normal accident you can fix it, but if dark magic was involved you can’t,” Sirius said.

Winry narrowed her eyes at them. The wizards all seemed serious. Her eyes flicked to the bedside table and the potions there. She thought about the magical scar salve hidden in her automail kit. Did these people really have a way to regrow limbs? Why hadn’t she heard of anyone in Amestris doing it?

“Huh,” was all she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos!! And yes, Roy and Riza will show up soon, probably in a couple chapters. I've got it all planned out :)


	4. The Wizard Rebels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winry meets the Order of the Phoenix

Dinner was awkward at first. 

The wizards had finally left the bedroom so Severus could rest in peace, but they were visibly unsettled by the sight of their colleague in such a state.

Molly rejected all help with dinner and commandeered the kitchen. She flittered between the kitchen and dining room while she cooked, setting the table and keeping a wary eye on Winry. 

Minerva got her hands back on the letter from Severus and stared off into space, deep in thought. Occasionally she would look down at the blueprints and trace them with steady fingers. 

Sirius and Remus kept their conversation private. They held the air of childhood friends, a comfortable familiarity between them.

Alastor kept one eye on Winry and the other on a constant rotation to see the whole room. Maybe even the whole house. Depends on how much his eye can see through. Winry noticed him rubbing the stump of his leg once, but he stopped when he caught her looking. 

Tonks, the person closest to Winry in age, was the only one willingly socializing with her. The wizard also seemed to have the least complicated feelings about Severus. Once she had learned he wasn’t going to die, she’d relaxed. Apparently, she had just graduated the local wizard school and he’d been one of her professors (Winry was right, he wasn’t a great teacher). 

“So, how does that metal arm thing work?” Tonks asked as Molly finally finished cooking and brought out the food.

Winry jumped at the chance to describe her chosen profession. She had to explain a lot of simple terms —who doesn’t know what electricity is?— but it was a way to keep her mind off more pressing matters for a moment. The other wizards quietly tuned-in to their conversation, but Winry was comfortable talking to a crowd. Automail often drew curious ears, even in towns where it was more commonplace.

As the meal drew to a close, Tonks somehow managed to knock over a vase on the far end of the table.

“Oh, whoops!” Tonks said. She pulled out her wand and snapped a quick spell at the shattered vase. It was like a repair done with alchemy, but there was no electric light. Just a word and a wave of a stick.

“Nice wandwork, Miss Tonks,” Minerva said, speaking up for the first time since they’d gone downstairs.

“Five points to Hufflepuff,” Tonks joked.

Minerva gave her a slight smile and went back to examining the letter.

“Learned that from Professor McGonagall,” Tonks told Winry, nodding to Minerva.

Tonks took a turn leading the conversation next. Apparently, the older wizard was the transfiguration teacher at wizard school. Winry was fascinated with the concept of a school just for learning magic. Back in Amestris, alchemy —and automail as well— seemed to be an apprentice-master thing, not a school thing.

On the topic of transfiguration, Tonks leaned forwards with a conspiratorial grin.

“Wanna see something cool?” she asked.

“Yeah!” Winry responded.

Tonks sat up straight in her chair and brushed her hands through her short pink hair. Right before Winry’s eyes, Tonks’s hair lengthened and turned a sky blue.

“How—?”

“I’m a metamorphmagus,” Tonks explained. Her face stretched until it took on the shape of Remus’s, scars and eye color included, but still with the long blue hair. 

“That’s impressive,” Winry said. She compared Tonks with Remus, who was absorbed in conversation with Sirius once again. It was an accurate portrayal of the man. “Yellow eyes, kinda like Ed’s gold ones.”

The smile fell from Tonks’s face, replaced with a mix of concern and pity.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said.

Winry frowned. “Why?”

“That he’s— well, you know,” she said, averting her gaze and shifting back to her own face, “a werewolf.”

Remus and Sirius perked up at that.

“…What?”

“A werewolf,” Tonks repeated.

“No, Ed’s… wait, why do you think that?”

“One marker of lycanthropy is yellow-hued eyes,” Remus spoke up, his voice soft.

Winry searched their faces for sincerity and found it. “No,” she said finally, “Ed’s not a werewolf. Gold eyes run in his family.”

Remus furrowed his brow and opened his mouth but was interrupted by a loud crack echoing throughout the room. Winry jumped, then looked around to see what had caused the sound and was shocked to see an old man standing behind her. She yelped and launched a forkful of food at him on instinct.

The wizards all looked at her with wide eyes, but the old man just smiled.

Then he blinked at Winry and frowned.

“Who are you?”

Minerva stood up.

“Severus invited Miss Winry Rockbell into the house. He left a note.”

Two hands met and the note was read by the eighth person that evening. His bushy eyebrows made an impressive frown when they joined together as he read the note.

“Who is that?” Winry whispered to Tonks.

“That’s Dumbledore,” Tonks answered. Ah, the leader of this group. He looked older than Granny, but he was much taller. The clothes he wore outshined any other Winry had seen in the past few days in this country. 

“Where is Severus? I must speak with him,” the old man announced.

“He’s resting,” Winry said, standing up to face Dumbledore. “He might not be awake until tomorrow.”

Dumbledore looked from Winry back to Minerva, who pursed her lips in a disapproving frown.

“I think it’s best if you see what’s happened yourself, Albus. Miss Rockbell, you should join us as well.”

Tonks waved an encouraging goodbye to Winry.

  


The three of them headed back upstairs. The sad state of the house looked even worse against Dumbledore’s bright clothes. 

A flash of anger ran across Dumbledore’s face when he saw Severus.

“The surgery went well, he’ll be just fine,” Winry reassured him. “It just takes time to heal.”

The old man marched up to Severus, who was still asleep.

“Minerva, did Voldemort—”

“Voldemort?” Winry interjected.

“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” Minerva answered, standing beside Winry.

Dumbledore frowned at both of them that time.

“I’m not from around here,” Winry explained, and Dumbledore looked at her thoughtfully.

“Did Voldemort do this? Is Severus’s position compromised?” he asked Minerva.

“I don’t know, Miss Rockbell was the last one to see him awake.”

The wizards turned to look at her. Winry fiddled with a rivet on her overalls.

“I really think he removed his own arm,” she said. “He’s probably been planning it for a few days. He told me the surgery was for a friend, but then he showed up missing an arm. Idiot.”

Dumbledore sighed and rubbed a hand across his face.

“He was one of the best things we had going for us in this war,” he sighed again.

“War?” Winry felt a chill run up her spine.

“Yes, Miss Rockbell. We are in the middle of a war. One that the government won’t acknowledge.”

Oh, great. Just great, Winry told herself sarcastically.

“Severus was our spy,” Dumbledore continued. “An invaluable resource in our time of need. However, it would appear that he has relinquished his duties.” Dumbledore clenched his jaw briefly, then schooled his face into a calm mask. 

“What? How does removing his arm mean that he’s quitting being a spy?” Winry asked.

“The dark mark —which was on the part of the arm he removed— is an identifier of Voldemort’s most loyal followers. Removing the mark would be seen as a great betrayal. Severus won’t be able to go back.”

Dumbledore fell silent for a few moments, simply watching Severus’s chest rise and fall with each breath.

“How did Severus get you here?” Dumbledore asked.

“He just gave me the address and I met him out front,” Winry shrugged.

“The address?”

“Um, yes,” Winry said, digging into her pockets. She pulled out two slips of paper, one with the specific address and the other with just the street name and time. The more vague one had handwriting that matched the long note while the other was in a looser script. “Here, he gave these to me.”

Dumbledore held out his hand and Winry gently placed them in his grip.

“He wasn’t supposed to keep this,” Dumbledore sighed, frustrated.

Minerva saw the question in Winry’s eyes.

“One of the protections on the house means that only Dumbledore can invite guests inside,” she explained. “He wrote it down for Severus but apparently he held onto it and shared it with you.”

That was one of the weirdest things Winry had heard about magic. It made no sense to her, but she decided to put it in a folder in her head to think about later. Much later. Preferably once she could discuss it with Ed.

The address slips in Dumbledore’s hands burst into flame. Do dramatics like that run in all people with leadership positions?

“Why don’t you join us for tonights Order meeting. We have a lot to discuss.”

Winry agreed to join the meeting. It was high time she got a definitive answer about who was going to help rescue Ed. What she _didn’t_ agree to join was a war. Especially one that she had no context for and no idea what the two sides were even fighting about. Sure, she’s against people who kidnap her friends on principle, but Ed has a way of getting into trouble even with good people.

  


* * *

  


At the meeting, the wizards explained that Voldemort’s side of the war were racists and wanted to commit genocide, and Winry was firmly against that. This meant that once she freed Ed, he was probably going to want to get involved in the fight. And Mustang’s people, who would be arriving in a few hours or so, would also want to fight. 

So, to prevent any of that, Winry came to the conclusion that she needed to take down Voldemort and his fighters while she rescued Ed. A one-and-done type mission. Two birds with one stone. Two bolts with one wrench.

She felt the wrench in her pocket. She had a larger one back in her room at the Leaky Cauldron. It was a gift from Ed and Al, transmuted with a solid, heavy core and a skin of a rainbow of metals. It was the first thing they had made together after coming home from the Promised Day. They made her promise not to use it against them except for dire reasons. 

She can use it against evil wizards any day, though.

“…so I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do,” Dumbledore finished speaking.

Winry clenched the (normal, tiny) wrench tighter.

“There’s plenty you could do, if you weren’t cowards!” she snapped. “From what you’ve described, the evil wizards aren’t organized and there aren’t a lot of them. It’s just a gang of people hanging out at a rich guy’s mansion, which for some reason has dungeons! If you aren’t going to help, I’ll go get Ed without you.”

“You can’t! Dear, you’re so young,” Molly said. “You’re no match for fully grown wizards!”

“I’d help, but I’m not allowed to leave the house,” Sirius sighed.

“You’re not allowed to go on suicide missions, either,” Remus scolded his friend.

“Remus is right,” Alastor said. “Even if we were to help, there’s no guarantee that we’d succeed. Going alone is a path that leads towards certain death.”

“I won’t be alone. Some…” Winry paused, unsure if she wanted to mention the military aspect of Ed’s past, and settled on: “…colleagues of Ed’s are going to be in town soon. They’ll help me.”

“Miss Rockbell, you weren’t around during the last wizarding war. Voldemort is more powerful than you think; your friends aren’t going to be able to take him down. A team of fully trained aurors isn’t enough to take him down,” Dumbledore said, holding out his hands like he was handing her an apology card. 

“You don’t know my friends.”

“Do you think they could help us?” Minerva asked.

“Yes,” Winry said firmly.

“We can’t just keep inviting strangers into our headquarters,” Molly said. “We don’t know any of these people.” She turned to address Winry. “I’m sure your friends are lovely, dear, but these are dangerous times. Trust is hard to come by. I _am_ sorry about Edward, though.”

Only Minerva’s face showed any doubt. The rest of the wizards were on Dumbledore’s side. Tonks looked apologetic, but it was clear where her loyalties lay as well.

“ _Fine_ , then,” Winry said, standing up. “I have to go to the train station.” She reached across the table and grabbed the note Severus had written for her. “If you change your minds, I’ll be back here tomorrow to check on Severus and to get the rest of my things.”

Minerva stood up as well. Hope sparked in Winry’s chest.

“I could go with Miss Rockbell and meet her friends. Then I can make an informed decision about inviting them here after we’ve become acquainted,” Minerva offered. Winry recognized that look on her face. It was doubt!

“What a wonderful offer, Minerva,” Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling.

Minerva was doubting Dumbledore, and Winry was ready to use that to her advantage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know JK Rowling uses wizard and witch as gendered terms, but I hate that lol. In my head, wizardry has always been magic-with-wands and witchcraft is potions. So, everyone in HP is a wizard because they all primarily use wands, while those who like potions are wizards who practice witchcraft. 
> 
> Anyways, next chapter is an interlude, and it's shorter than normal so I might post it earlier! Thanks for reading!


	5. The Midnight Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reinforcements from Amestris arrive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interlude: Minerva's POV

Minerva accompanied Winry to the train station that evening. It was a warm summer night with a clear sky. The stars in the city were faint compared to the brilliant skies over Hogwarts. Winry admitted she wasn’t quite sure when her friends were arriving. They might be waiting at the train station long enough to see the sunrise. Minerva was just glad she wouldn’t have to wake up and teach in the morning.

They chatted as they waited. The young woman reminded Minerva of herself freshly out of Hogwarts: intelligent, passionate, and tolerant of no nonsense. But she was filled with an unending torrent of questions about things she should already know as an adult wizard.

In fact, Minerva had to ask which wizarding school Winry had gone to, to know how she had those gaps in her knowledge.

Ah. Apparently Winry was a muggle.

There were no secret societies (Winry’s words) in Amestris, and alchemy’s existence is common knowledge there. From what Winry described, alchemy in Amestris is different from the old idea of alchemy in England. It sounded more like transfiguration. And the thought of alchemists living alongside muggles was a bit mind-boggling. Minerva liked to think she was tolerant of muggles, but she had to admit she had never thought wizards could live in harmony with them.

“Aren’t the muggles jealous?” Minerva asked, curious how it worked in Amestris. “Or do they make wizards —I mean, alchemists— do all the work for them?”

“Alchemists are for the people,” Winry tried explaining. “If you have the ability to help someone, it only makes sense to do what you can. That’s the whole point of being in a society, isn’t it?”

  


When two a.m. rolled around, Winry yawned.

“They might not get in tonight,” she said, stretching. “We might have to catch them tomorrow.”

“I’m fine waiting all night if you are,” Minerva said. Once, about 14 years ago, she’d spent a whole day watching over the Dursley household. A single night with pleasant company was nothing compared to watching that disaster in the making.

Winry smiled, then offered to fetch coffee. Minerva used that time to transform some cardboard rubbish into a portkey. She would be using it later to get back to headquarters, possibly alone but likely with Winry and her friends.

A train pulled into the station just as Winry returned with the drinks.

“Riza? Roy?”

The two tall military figures stepped off the train in sync, their faces set in professional boredom but with smiles in their eyes. Minerva stayed on the bench sipping coffee and carefully watched as Winry approached them.

“Hello, Winry,” the blonde greeted, along with a tight hug.

“Hi! I’m surprised to see you two! I thought you were sending someone from your team,” Winry said.

“I _am_ part of my team,” the brunet smirked. “Besides, it’s rare to get a chance to go abroad without spending any vacation time. So, what’s the news on Fullmetal?”

“The short story is: he was kidnapped. The long story is too complicated to tell at a train station.”

“And who’s that keeping an eye on us?”

“She’s this country’s version of an alchemist. Her name’s Minerva McGonagall, and she has some info about Ed’s situation.”

“What’re they called here?” the brunet asked, his eyes passing lazily over the thin crowd. “Wizards?”

Winry nodded. 

“Interesting,” he said. The blonde hummed in agreement.

The trio walked over to Minerva for introductions.

“Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, from Amestris.”

These people had a peculiar air about them, something that said they were dangerous. Powerful. Maybe it was the confidence that held their chins up high, the lack of a war pressing down on them. The shadows in their eyes that held dark memories. But it was clear Winry trusted them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Minerva said.

“Likewise.”

“Miss Rockbell, you’re staying at the Leaky Cauldron, correct?” Minerva asked.

“That’s right.”

“We should talk there.”

  


Winry led the way back to her room at the pub. It was sparsely populated this time of night. Roy made some comment about nostalgia and how the place reminded him a bit of home. 

Upstairs, the Amestrians watched closely as Minerva applied privacy spells around Winry’s room.

“Tell me what you’ve discovered about Fullmetal’s situation,” Roy ordered.

Winry told them about the people holding him captive, including what she had learned about the wizarding war. She had a remarkable memory; Minerva didn’t have to correct her once.

“Miss Minerva is part of a group that has fought these people before. Their leader isn’t very keen on helping rescue Ed, though.”

“Albus Dumbledore is a busy man; he has a lot on his plate at the moment,” Minerva said. Then she sighed. “I’m afraid he’s more preoccupied with convincing the government that you-know-who is back.”

“You don’t have to wait for government approval to take action,” Roy argued. “Especially if the government could be infiltrated by the people you want to fight.”

“It is,” Minerva frowned. “Lucius Malfoy, the owner of the house where Mister Elric is being held, is high up in the ministry, as well as a few others.”

Roy held up a hand as if to say, “I told you so.”

“Do we even need help?” Riza asked. “Winry, you said you know where Ed is, including blueprints of the building. We can make our own plans.”

“Yes, but I think we should also talk to Severus back at—” Winry’s voice cut out as she tried to name the house. Another attempt to speak about it failed as well.

Riza’s concerned gaze flicked between Winry’s mouth and throat. Roy looked steadily at Minerva, who was unsurprised at Winry’s inability to speak.

“The location of our headquarters is under a protective charm,” Minerva explained. “Miss Rockbell cannot tell you where it is, and you won’t be able to see it until Dumbledore invites you in.”

“That doesn’t make sense. How are you keeping her from speaking? And only for a specific phrase?” Roy asked.

“It’s a complicated spell.”

“And your magic can alter people?”

“Of course. Can’t your version of magic do the same?”

“No. It can’t.”

Something dark flickered in Roy’s eyes, a mixture of guilt and sympathy, perhaps. Odd. Minerva had never been one for legilimency, but she had learned to read emotions through her years dealing with mischievous teenagers. This was not a subject that she should press with this man.

The four of them looked at each other for a long moment. 

Minerva thought that they could help with the war, even though the young woman’s only goal was to save her friend. It sounded like they’d dealt with something similar before. Perhaps they could jumpstart the rest of the Order into a more active state. Staying on the defensive was an okay move when they had a spy in Voldemort’s inner circle, but Severus had quit that job. 

When Albus had sent Minerva to check out these people, what he really wanted was a report. Something that he could read and ignore. He would never agree to bring these people into their group. They weren’t part of his plan, the plan that has been kept hidden from all prying eyes.

Well, Minerva decided to take a chance and make her own plan.

She pulled a piece of paper with Grimmauld Place’s address out of her sleeve and handed it to the two military personnel, instructing them to read it. She’s just as bad as Severus, keeping the paper Albus had given her after he had cast the Fidelius charm.

“That letter’s from Albus. Now you’ll be able to enter the building,” Minerva explained. “You can stay there for the rest of your time in town. We’ll head over there promptly, so grab your bags.”

“What about—” Winry started, gesturing around the room.

“I’ll talk to Tom in the morning. Everything’ll be taken care of.”

Minerva held out her cardboard portkey and ordered them to hold on tight.

They landed squarely in the lobby of Grimmauld Place.

“Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix,” Minerva said. 

If Minerva was sure of one thing, this war would end faster than the first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dumbledore: Yes, I have a plan  
> Everyone: What’s your plan?  
> Dumbledore: Oh... um... it’s a secret…  
> McGonagall: I have my own plan now


	6. A Rude Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one in Grimmauld Place is capable of being quiet when others are asleep

One instant Winry was standing in her room at the Leaky Cauldron, holding a piece of rubbish, and the next she was on the floor at Grimmauld Place, her head spinning. Ed said he and the other sacrifices had experienced a bit of teleportation on Promised Day. It was not a pleasant way to travel. Minerva was the only one to land on her feet.

“What was that?” Roy said, his voice loud in the quiet space.

Minerva was quick to hush him, but it was too late.

“Who goes there? Do you have any idEA WHAT TIME OF NIGHT IT IS?” a loud voice called out. It continued on, gaining in volume and throwing insults Winry had never heard before, but she couldn’t locate the voice’s source.

Minerva hurried to the wall around the staircase and began tugging on the curtains there.

“Help me close this,” she requested.

Riza, who regained her balance first, was the quickest to Minerva’s side, but she froze before acting.

“What?” Riza breathed the word with an air of disbelief.

Winry leapt up to help, Roy following close behind.

The curtains Minerva were tugging formed a frame around a screaming woman’s head. The woman got angrier with every new person in sight. At first glance, Winry thought it was just a window in the wall, but the woman had a painterly quality about her.

Movement caught the corner of Winry’s eye and she whipped her head around only to find another living painting. This one was obviously not just a window because the people inside were smaller than life size. The figures were covering their ears and sending glares at the screaming painting. All the other paintings were moving as well, creating a nauseating atmosphere in the entryway. Winry’d never seen anything like it.

A door slammed open upstairs, followed by heavy footsteps. Sirius and Remus stumbled down the staircase wearing matching nightclothes.

“Oh, mother,” Sirius sighed. He grabbed the other half of the curtains and helped Minerva close them. The reduction in noise was a relief, but there were still muffled shouts behind the curtains.

“Who woke her up?” Sirius asked, eyes still nearly closed from sleep.

“I suppose that was me,” Roy said, still staring unnerved at the curtains.

“I hate you,” Sirius said without any bite. He blinked and made a face at Roy. “Who are you, by the way?”

“Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, meet Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, Winry’s friends,” Minerva introduced.

Roy held out a hand to shake and got a weak response from the sleepy wizards.

“Okay, everyone-” he paused to yawn, “-everyone has to be quiet now. Goodnight.” With that, Sirius turned around, linked his arm with Remus’s, and disappeared back up the stairs.

The figures in the other paintings settled down and appeared to fall asleep. Winry could still see some keeping an eye on them, though.

“I suppose I should have warned you to be quiet before arriving,” Minerva said.

“What about warning us about the teleportation? And the living painting? What was that?” Roy hissed.

“It’s a portrait of Sirius’s mother,” Minerva explained. “And I apologize for not warning you about the portkey, but it’s been a long day. We’ll have to discuss things in more detail tomorrow.”

The Amestrians gathered their things and followed Minerva up the stairs to a room with just one bed. With a wave of her wand, she turned the single bed in the room into three, causing Roy to burst out in startled cursing.

“What is the problem?” Minerva asked.

“How are you doing this?” Roy asked. “What’s going on? Did I hit my head? Is this an elaborate prank?”

“Are all three of you muggles? I thought you said your country was full of alchemists.”

“I _am_ an alchemist,” Roy said. “This just doesn’t make any sense. Winry, I thought you said magic was just another kind of alchemy.”

Winry crossed her arms.

“How was I supposed to know you’d freak out over this stuff. It all seems pretty normal to me.” That was a lie, because there were a lot of unusual things happening due to magic, but it wasn’t fair for Roy to blame her. She’s an automail mechanic, not an alchemist! Besides, alchemists are always coming up with new things they can do. Who is she to say any of this stuff is abnormal?

Riza stepped around Winry and placed a hand on Roy’s shoulder. A bit of tension melted out of his posture.

“We’re all feeling a little stressed,” Riza said in a quiet voice. “We’ve all gotten a lot of new information today. We’ll need time to process it all.”

Roy sighed and rubbed a hand across his face.

“You’re right, Lieutenant, as always. Thank you. I’m sorry, Winry.”

Winry nodded at Roy.

“Right. Well. There’s a bathroom across the hall, please don’t go wandering any further than that. This house isn’t quite… habitable yet.”

Yeah, like that was going to stop them. Winry knew that her companions would spend at least a portion of the night investigating the building.

“I recommend you stay quiet tonight,” Minerva said before leaving. “And wait to come down in the morning. The rest of the Order doesn’t know that I’ve brought you here, yet.”

They got the message: stay out of the way until Minerva calmed everyone down.

Winry claimed the bed furthest from the door, only kicking off her shoes before climbing under the covers. She fell asleep to the sounds of Riza and Roy rummaging through the cabinets.

  


* * *

  


The next morning, Winry woke early to the sounds of a shouting match downstairs.

She sat up and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

The room had looked better without the bright morning sunlight. The patterned green wallpaper was peeling in the corners. The dark wood floors were scuffed and dusty. Cobwebs lined the ceilings and clung to the tops of the windows.

Riza was perched on the windowsill, speaking softly with Roy. He held a notebook open with one hand and was writing in it.

Winry suspected that they hadn’t slept at all last night. Riza waved good morning to Winry.

A thump from below regathered their attention. 

Roy whipped out a piece of chalk from who-knows-where and drew a transmutation circle on the floor. The wood shifted under Roy’s fingertips, leaving behind a funnel reminiscent of a gramophone.

The voices were suddenly much clearer.

Winry pointed out the names of the voices for her companions.

“It’s a terrible idea,” said Molly.

“It’s better than doing nothing!” Sirius argued.

“Sirius, you know why you can’t—” Remus sighed.

“I know!” Sirius barked. “I know I can’t do anything! But these guys might be able to. I think we should help them.”

“I’m inclined to believe they don’t need much help,” Minerva said.

Winry was second-guessing that, after seeing Roy’s reaction to magic last night. But, she figured, once he got over the culture shock he would be fine.

“Don’t need help? They want to go against you-know-who himself! Just the three of them against who knows how many Death Eaters! It’s a death trap. They’re not even wizards!” Molly said.

Riza pulled the notebook out of Roy’s hands and added a sentence to it.

“But muggles are inventing all kinds of fascinating things, nowadays,” said a new voice.

“Arthur,” Molly said in a mildly scolding tone.

“Oh! Yes, you are right, honey,” Arthur said. “It’s still incredibly dangerous. Although, maybe if we enchanted some muggle objects…”

“Arthur!”

“Or not!” The man chuckled a bit. “Just a thought!”

“Give them a chance, Molly,” said Minerva. “You haven’t met Miss Rockbell’s companions, yet. I think they’re just what we need.”

“We don’t need to be bringing strangers into our group,” Molly countered. “Dumbledore can’t be pleased to have them here.”

“I think we can use all the help we can get,” Remus said carefully. “The Order isn’t exactly what it used to be.”

The wizards held a moment of silence.

“Besides,” Minerva said. “Dumbledore isn’t always right, no matter what he wants others to believe.” Another brief pause in conversation, probably some non-verbal communication between the wizards. “You’ll see when you meet them. I’ll go bring them down.”

Roy leaned back from the funnel and altered a few spots on his circle. The floor went back to normal in a flash of light.

“Death Eaters?” Riza asked, questioning the naming ability of the evil wizards.

“‘You-Know-Who’,” Roy replied, making finger quotes. “Are they really so afraid of this guy that they won’t even say his name?”

“I think they said his real name is Voldemort,” Winry said.

“…It’s better than Father,” Roy admitted. He wiped away the chalk circle with a swipe of his gloves.

  


* * *

  


Minerva arrived shortly after Winry changed into fresh clothes, and she hustled everyone down the hall to the staircase. On the way, they passed by Severus’s room.

“Just a minute, I should check on him,” Winry said, pointing at the room.

Winry sat in the chair by the bed and unwound his bandages. The port looked healthy. She set the arm down while she unrolled a clean strip of bandages.

“Thank you for doing this,” Severus said.

Winry startled. She hadn’t realized he was awake.

“So, when do I get the rest of the automail?” he asked.

Winry frowned.

“That’s something I normally discuss with a patient before surgery. Not that you gave me any warning about what you were planning,” Winry snapped.

Winry could feel three sets of eyes on the back of her head. She sighed and began to wrap the new bandages around his arm.

“I can build a new arm from scratch in less than a week, usually. But you’ll need three years of physical therapy to be able to use it properly.”

The small smile on Severus’s face from the first sentence fell away at the second.

“Three years?”

“Sometimes longer,” Winry said, securing the end of the bandage.

Severus looked up at the ceiling.

“It was still worth it,” he muttered.

Winry stood up and took a step backwards.

“Now,” she said, whipping out a wrench, “tell me why the hell you cut your own arm off, idiot!”

The man flinched minutely, then cradled what was left of his left arm close to his chest.

“I’m afraid my work for Dumbledore suddenly became too hazardous.”

“Yeah, I heard you were a spy,” Winry said. “It was still a foolish thing to do.”

“You don’t understand. It was the only way I could remove the mark.”

Winry glanced over her shoulder. Minerva, Riza, and Roy had all crowded closer to her, as eager to hear the man’s reasoning as she.

“And I had to quit. The Dark Lord’s temper has become more deadly in the past week,” Severus said. “Ever since a certain _prisoner_ joined us.”

“Fullmetal’s never been a good target for kidnapping,” Roy said, his smile sharp. “People tend to regret it.”

“Fullmetal?” Minerva and Severus both asked.

“Edward. He’s the Fullmetal Alchemist,” Roy explained.

“Did you know that Ed was the person I was looking for that first night we met?” Winry asked.

Severus shifted under her intense gaze.

“Not the first night no… in fact, he refused to tell us his name. But when you made that drawing, I realized the instant I saw it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Winry said, angrily.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to.”

Winry smacked Severus with a wrench.

“Ow!” Severus rubbed his bruised shoulder. “The Dark Lord was intrigued by the alchemist. He had powers we had never seen before. The normal interrogation technique, legilimency, failed to work. I could not penetrate his mental defenses. The Dark Lord is planning on trying legilimency himself in a few days due to my failure. He doesn’t typically deign to dirty his mind with potential muggleborns. But Ed is a special case.”

“Because of his alchemy?” Roy asked.

“Yes, that, and his metal leg. None of us had ever seen such a thing before. Pettigrew has an enchanted hand that looks like metal, but this was something new. The Dark Lord is desperate for any advantage over us, barring any muggle inventions.”

“Well, then he can’t have automail,” Winry said. She figured she counted as muggle since she had no interest in becoming an alchemist.

“And he won’t have guns,” Riza mused. 

“He doesn’t need them,” Minerva said. “He and his followers favor a spell that kills instantly. It’s impossible to block.”

“So, he has magic guns,” Riza said.

“I suppose,” said Severus. “Anyways, from talking with Winry I realized that it was likely Ed would manage to escape somehow and I would likely be blamed for it. The Dark Lord already suspects me for the spy I am. It was in my best interests to… tender my resignation to the Dark Lord as soon as I could.”

“You’re a coward,” Winry said. If he and Ed had switched places, Ed would have saved them both.

“I know,” Severus said, eyes downcast. “I couldn’t even bring myself to help you until I was certain I would be safe from the Dark Lord’s wrath.”

“But what about Ed? Do you think he’s still okay, even after you’ve left your leader?”

“As long as the Dark Lord still needs something from him, he should be fine.”

Winry put the wrench back into her pocket.

“Ok. Thank you, then, for helping me,” she said. “Now, get some rest.”

Minerva led the Amestrians out of the room, leaving Severus alone with his thoughts.

“What’s legilimency?” Winry asked.


	7. Magic vs. Alchemy

“So, let me get this straight,” Roy said, elbows propped up on the dining room table. “You’ve got paintings that are alive, some of you can read minds, and you can all teleport. And this is normal for you?”

“If that’s how you want to put it, yes.”

The three Amestrians and the five wizards (Minerva, Molly, Arthur, Sirius, and Remus) were gathered for breakfast and for a brief primer on magic.

Minerva had explained legilimency to them first, following Winry’s request. Winry wasn’t a fan of it. At least Minerva said it was possible to block out mind readers, and Severus _did_ say that Ed had kept his mind closed. The wizards claimed it was impossible to do so without intensive training, but Winry has come to learn that nothing’s impossible, especially where Ed’s concerned.

Molly was starting to come around to the idea of rescuing Ed from Malfoy Manor, which was nice. Oh, she definitely wasn’t pleased with the idea of Winry going; she had a whole _thing_ about children staying out of trouble. Winry was offended. She was six years older now than Ed had been when he’d joined the military. She knew that wasn’t normal, but still… she was an adult and she can do what she wants. Roy was able to talk Molly into accepting what was happening, though.

The wizards were all very impressed with Roy. He convinced them in half an hour that they were the best people for the job. The details about their previous experience with this kind of situation were kept secret —no one needed to know about the homunculi or the Philosopher’s stones— but the story was still convincing.

Unfortunately, none of the wizards were planning on helping beyond sharing information. There was a mix of reasons, but most boiled down to the fact that it was too dangerous and Dumbledore wouldn’t allow it. Sirius had offered, but the others refused to let him go.

“Telly-port? What is that referring to?” Arthur Weasley asked. “And does it have anything to do with telly-phones?”

Arthur was Molly’s husband, and he was fascinated with “all things muggle”, as Molly put it. He kept trying to divert the conversation for his own curiosity. Under other circumstances, Winry would’ve been happy to learn more about the small, everyday magic these people use. Ed had been kidnapped for almost a full week and now that she knew where he was, she was antsy to rescue him.

Roy lead the conversation for now. As he was the only alchemist on their team, he was the most adept at picking apart the differences between alchemy and magic. He was becoming increasingly displeased and they’d barely started. 

“Teleporting: portkey, apparation, and fire place travel. Floo,” Roy said, rubbing his temples. He froze for a moment, then asked, “Do you people not have phones?”

The looks on their faces was a resounding no.

And there was that, too. The wizards were as boggled by normal things as Roy was by magic. There was no reason for them not to know what a phone is! There was one right by the Leaky Cauldron, even.

“What exactly is the function of a phone?” Arthur asked earnestly.

“To… talk to people from a distance,” Roy answered with a mild grimace, like he was displeased with himself for being in a situation where that was a serious question he had to answer.

“Oh, we use floo calls for that,” Arthur said. “And owls. And at work we have self-propelled memos. You know, it’s fascinating how many different ways we have invented to talk to each other. Just last year, on one of our raids, we found—”

Winry had had enough. They were getting off topic again.

“Okay,” said Winry, drawing out the word. “Sorry to interrupt, but how much of this even matters?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“We only need to know enough to rescue Ed. I don’t care if your tea glows blue, I just need to know what to expect when we break into the place where he’s being held!”

“Quite right,” Arthur said, his expression fading from delight to a more appropriate seriousness.

Molly frowned at Winry. She may have stopped fighting against the whole plan, but she still wasn’t pleased with any of it.

“What do you need from us?” Arthur asked. “We’ll tell you anything we can.”

Winry faltered for a moment. She was a little out of her depths here. She turned to Riza, who picked up her thoughts.

“We should focus on things that might impair our ability to rescue Ed. So, things that relate to security the wizards might have, as well as their weapons.”

“Wards and wands, then,” Remus said. “Wards are the protective measures around a location. For example, one of the wards on this house is such that you can only see and enter the building if you’ve been invited by the secret keeper. The Malfoy Manor doesn’t have that particular ward, but they’re bound to have others.”

“You’ve got teleportation, and we know exactly where Ed is being held. Why not just pop over there, grab him, and leave?” Roy asked.

“That won’t work. Anti-apparation wards are standard. Only people keyed-in to them will be able to pass them,” Arthur responded.

“So, we can’t teleport in, but their allies can,” Roy said.

“That’s right.”

“Great.”

“What other wards are standard?” Winry asked.

“Muggle repellant charms. However, since you were able to find the Leaky Cauldron without any trouble, I suppose you don’t have to worry about those affecting you. We’ll help you find a way around them if necessary,” Minerva said.

“I was there on a Ministry raid a few years back,” Arthur said. “We were able to walk in without any problem, but it’s possible Lucius Malfoy lowered the wards for us. He knew we were coming ahead of time.”

“We’re going in the normal way, then. Can I see the blueprints, Riza?” Roy asked. Riza nodded and went to hand them over.

“Oh, there’s no need for that! I found a spell that works better,” Arthur said with a smile.

He conjured up a 3D projection of the estate. It hovered over the table, covering up the empty breakfast plates. The grand house was surrounded by lush plant life. Everything in the projection had a slight blue glow to it and was partially transparent. Arthur circled his wand slowly, removing the roof and the upper floors. The detail was incredible! Winry could see the frames around the portraits, the trim on the doors, even the candles in the chandeliers.

“There’s two main entrances to the house and five floo-connected fireplaces. You won’t be able to floo into the house, either. The entrance to the basement is hidden away in the back of the house,” Arthur said, pausing to take a sip of tea. “You’ll want to watch out for cursed objects. We didn’t find many on the raid, but again, Lucius knew we were coming.” Arthur sighed, and Molly patted him on the shoulder. “He did a lot of damage that year with one of his dark objects.”

“What happened?” Winry asked.

“He slipped a cursed journal to my daughter and it possessed her. I always tell the kids: don’t trust anything if you can’t tell where it keeps its brain.”

That… was a disturbing thing to “always tell the kids”. It was even more disturbing that it was necessary to say it.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Arthur smiled at Winry. “It’s alright. Ginny’s resilient. I’d say she’s recovered nicely.”

“Do you think anything like that is going to be at the house when we go there?” Roy asked. 

“Hm, it’s tough to say. You-know-who came back just a couple months ago, and so the Death Eaters have been more active. And Severus says they’re staying at the Malfoy Manor. There could be any number of cursed or dark objects there.”

“What do you mean, ‘came back’?” Winry asked. “Where had he gone?”

“Oh! Wow, you don’t know?”

“No…”

“You-know-who died fourteen years ago.”

That was like a punch to the gut. Roy inhaled sharply and Riza’s posture stiffened.

“He came back to life?” Winry asked, her voice shaking. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Albus always said that he believed you-know-who wasn’t really gone,” Minerva pointed out. “I don’t know why he thought that, but he was right, it seems.”

“Another immortal being?” Roy asked, exasperated. “What has Fullmetal gotten mixed up with now?”

“Hold on, _another_ immortal being? What’s that supposed to mean?” Sirius asked around a mouthful of food. He was the only one not finished with breakfast.

“We have experience with this kind of problem,” Riza answered. “I don’t think the details are relevant at the moment, but we can talk about it once we complete this mission.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Sirius said.

Riza nodded and moved on. “What does magic look like in a combat situation?”

“Well, there’s spells flying everywhere,” Sirius said, waving his hands about. He was holding a half-peeled orange, so there were bits of pulp flying all around him as he gestured. “Some spells are nasty pieces of work. Death Eaters like Unforgivable Curses, as well as others that can’t be blocked with shield spells.”

“Unforgivable Curses?”

“Killing, torture, and mind control,” Sirius counted them off on his fingers. “You can fight off the mind control sometimes, but you just have to hope the other two miss.”

They have mind reading _and_ mind control? What’s next, memory wiping? Who thinks up this stuff, anyhow?

“Is there a way to tell the difference between spells?”

“The killing curse is green. A lot of other spells are white. The disarming one, expelliarmus, is red. That’s one of Harry’s favorites,” Sirius said.

“Is Harry one of the Death Eaters?” Roy asked.

Molly gasped the loudest out of the wizards.

“How could you say such a thing?”

“Molly, they really don’t know anything,” Minerva soothed. “For Merlin’s sake, they didn’t even know about moving portraits.”

“Harry’s my godson,” Sirius said.

“And he’s like a son to me,” Molly added.

“He’s also the boy-who-lived,” Arthur joined in.

  


That sparked another conversation tangent that took them all the way out of breakfast and into late morning. Molly declared she needed a break from this and shooed everyone into the living room across the hall.

Winry hadn’t been surprised to learn that the wizards were hailing a teenager as their savior. Ed had filled a similar role in Amestris. He’d even had the folksy name to go along with it: the Alchemist of the People. She felt sorry for Harry Potter, though. He hadn’t even had a choice to get mixed up in his country’s problems, unlike Ed. The story didn’t really explain how Harry survived or how Voldemort died, but it probably wasn’t important to worry about.

The living room looked like the kitchen, in that it was dark and dusty but not as much as the other rooms in the house. It was still a mess. When Winry sat down on the couch she was engulfed in a plume of dust.

“Ugh, gross.”

“Blame Kreacher. It’s his job to clean.”

“What? Who?”

“My house elf.”

“Your what?”

“You don’t have house elves?” Sirius asked.

“You’re the only one of us that has one,” Arthur said.

“I don’t know how to describe him. He’s just an elf and his job is to take care of the house. Personality wise, he’s just like my mother, but grouchier. You met her portrait last night. Kreacher will probably stay out of your way as long as you don’t mess with mother.”

“Okay, I guess,” Winry said.

“Can we have a demonstration of combat spells?” Roy asked, shoving the conversation back to their main objective.

Remus, who had been the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher the year before (which was apparently a normal, required class at wizard school), was the clear choice for a demonstration of this type.

He stood up by the fireplace, facing the couches where everyone was sitting. His grip was loose around his wand, which he held out at arms length.

“Now, not all spells give off light, but most combat spells do.”

“Duelers are pretty dramatic,” Sirius said, sitting with his elbows on his knees, leaning forwards towards Remus. “It’s not a surprise they made flashy spells.”

“You’d know all about dramatics, wouldn’t you?” Remus teased Sirius.

Minerva cleared her throat.

“Yes, well. Moving on.” Remus pointed his wand towards a particularly ugly set of curtains. “Is it fine if I…?”

“As I’ve said before, I don’t care what happens to this house,” Sirius said.

Remus nodded, then straightened up. He whispered a word and spun the wand in a tight circle. An orange light spat from the tip of the wand and collided with the curtains. The spell transformed the fabric from a sickly green to a drab brown.

Sirius scoffed, and leaped off the couch to stand next to Remus.

“You can do better than that!” he cried. “Here, duel me!”

Winry expected the shy man to splutter at that, but he got a spark of light in his eye.

“Expelliarmus!”

Sirius, who hadn’t even taken his wand out of his own pocket, lost said wand as it flew across the room to land in front of the couches.

“No fair! I wasn’t ready yet.”

“You challenged me,” Remus pointed out. “You know, if Mad Eye were here, he’d be reminding you to stay vigilant.”

Sirius rolled his eyes, then spun around to go fetch his wand.

The three Amestrians watched closely at the performance Remus and Sirius put on. The spells they used weren’t harmful to each other, but it was still a good example of what to expect. When it finally finished they looked exhausted.

“Are all spells that fast?” Riza asked.

“I suppose… never really thought about it before. Why?”

“It’ll be possible to dodge them, especially if they’re cast from a distance.”

Just then, a flash of green filled the fireplace. Roy and Riza were out of their chairs in an instant. The flames died as quickly as they had appeared and Tonks stumbled into the room.

She immediately tripped and knocked an hourglass off the mantle.

“Whoops! Sorry about that!” She spelled it back together, put it back on the mantle, and turned to face them. “Oh, hey Winry, you're back!”


	8. Three Steps Back, One Step Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Multiple P.O.V.s this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first three parts of this chapter take place before last chapter, the fourth section picks up from where we left off

_Last night:_

Tonks watched as Minerva led Winry out of the house. Dumbledore sighed once the door was closed.

“It’s not the right time to face the Death Eaters directly. I do hope the girl finds a way to move on without her friend. You all understand?” Dumbledore directed the question to the whole room.

“Are we really going to do nothing?” Tonks asked. She had joined this group with the hope that she could actively do something positive to help people. Sure, guarding Harry Potter all summer was important, and the older Order members were guarding something in the Ministry as well, but this! A rescue! Maybe it was all the Gryffindors around her influencing her thoughts, but she wanted to charge in and help.

“Our actions may look small in the moment, but we must endeavor to see things through the greater sweep of history.”

“But- I mean…”

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled at her, and she faltered.

Tonks had been out of school for a few years, she was a proper auror, even, and still her old headmaster had the ability to make her feel like a nervous first year.

“Right. Whatever you say, sir.”

“Thank you, Nymphadora,” he said, ignoring her glare. “Now, on to our normal business.”

The rest of the meeting passed quickly. Professor McGonagall still hadn’t returned by the end, so Tonks assumed that was the end of the whole ordeal with Winry.

The next day, Tonks woke from a series of nightmares she couldn’t remember clearly. Her early morning shift at the Ministry was slow, and her mind kept drifting the events of last night. Maybe she should stop by Grimmauld Place on her lunch break. Sirius will definitely be there, and probably Remus and Molly, and they might have news from McGonagall.

If not, she could always grouse about it with Sirius. He was a great person to complain with.

  


* * *

  


The Death Eaters cowered around Voldemort’s feet, as normal. Tonight was different, though. Voldemort had summoned a meeting and Severus Snape had failed to show up, even when he had turned up the pain on the Dark Mark to Cruciatus levels.

“I told you he was a traitor,” Lucius simpered. “He only feigned loyalty to you, my Lord.”

“Quiet,” Voldemort ordered. He had only had ears for a couple months and already he was tired of hearing his followers whining. “Find him. You have one hour.”

Everyone in the room scattered like rats. It was fun spreading fear.

Bellatrix Lestrange, his most fanatical Death Eater, was the one with success. She waltzed into what Voldemort had taken to calling the throne room, levitating a strange object in the air.

“My Lord, this is all that he left behind,” Bellatrix cackled. “Isn’t it pretty?”

It was a shame that her mind had fractured in Azkaban. It was going to be a trial finding someone competent to replace her. Although she still had her uses, as she was proving now.

Voldemort held out his own wand and took the object from her. It was a severed arm. One with his own mark on it.

“It was in his house!” Bellatrix said, stepping closer to Voldemort. She licked her lips. “There was blood everywhere.”

Voldemort sneered. He lazily tossed the arm to Nagini. A small taste of her next meal.

  


* * *

  


Edward Elric was getting tired of this. He’d managed to escape multiple times, but each time had been found before he could completely get away. He didn’t even know who these people were or how they managed to take him down without even touching him. He suspected it had something to do with their sticks.

This whole research trip was all about learning new things about alchemy. He would have preferred his learning to happen in libraries, not in a battle for his freedom. Why do things like this always happen to him?

He had just been passing through London when he’d seen a group of people in masks attacking someone. Ed had stepped in to stop it, of course. He had taken out almost all of them, but one of them had grabbed his arm and teleported him here. It hadn’t felt exactly the same as the teleportation he’d experienced on Promised Day, or any of the times he’d visited Truth, but it was similar. Unpleasant. Like being squeezed through a tube.

The masked person had dumped him in the barred cell that was now all too familiar to him and pestered him about his alchemy. 

They weren’t getting anything out of him.

In the week he’d been here, he’d only seen three of his captors without their masks on.

The first one, a man with long black hair, stopped by every day to make uncomfortable eye contact for hours on end. Ed had never heard of that interrogation technique before. It was unsettling, but not very effective in getting him to talk.

(Well, Ed talked. A lot, in fact. Just not about anything that could be considered useful. He’d memorized the manual for his fridge when he fixed it last year and was putting that to great use here.)

The second one was a woman with bloodlust in her eyes. She had visited twice, and Ed hoped he would never see her again. His body ached just thinking about what she had done. She was able to put him through the pain of automail surgery with a wave of a stick.

The third one was the leader of their group and perhaps the ugliest human he’d ever seen. The man’s head looked like a fleshy light bulb. It was pale, hairless, and nose-less. Ed had only seen Bulb Head once, and that was on his escape attempt straight up through the floor.

He wouldn’t be trying to leave that way again.

He shifted his legs a bit. His captors had finally found a position to hold him in where he couldn’t do clap alchemy, but they’d left his legs free. Time for escape attempt number 6.

  


* * *

  


_Back to the Present:_

Riza Hawkeye startled out of her chair when green flames appeared unannounced in the fire place. The wizards had explained that they used fire places as a method of travel, but their description had been lacking. Specifically, they hadn’t said the flames would be on when traveling.

She wondered what else they could be leaving out.

“Oh, hey Winry, you're back!”

“Hi, Tonks!”

The new wizard looked to be a few years older than Winry. She wore robes that looked like they were part of a uniform; the dull color contrasting the wizard’s neon hair. She repaired the broken hourglass without a second glance and stepped into the room.

“Wow, so does this mean we’re helping you? And are these your friends?” Tonks asked, pointing to Riza and Roy.

Riza made eye contact with Roy and they both relaxed from their fighting stances. Riza was in awe of how well Winry just accepted everything that was happening. She supposed growing up the way that she did, in a world of immortal monsters and chimeras, of impossibilities that had become reality, made acceptance of other things easier than learning of it as an adult.

“Lt. General Roy Mustang and Lt. Colonel Riza Hawkeye,” Roy said, striding forward to shake Tonks’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss…?”

“Tonks. Just Tonks.”

She, like the others, was impressed that “the muggle military” was willing and able to help with their Death Eater problem. Riza knew getting too involved in another country’s affairs was a bad idea. They’ve come a long way in two years, but Amestris wasn’t held in high regard with its border countries. Riza wasn’t averse to lying on official reports, though. As long as they could frame this mission around rescuing a kidnapped State Alchemist, they were in the clear.

Tonks settled in an empty spot on the couch, and they resumed the conversation from before. Riza and Roy alternated asking questions about the demonstration.

They found out a few useful things. Wizards tend to prefer distance and don’t know how to block a punch. Spells don’t tend to go through physical objects, so Roy will be able to use the surrounding environment to create shields during the fight (he hated using clap alchemy, hated how it felt, but it was too useful not to use it). Shield spells don’t stop bullets. In fact, all except the strongest shield spells are designed to block spells, not physical attacks.

“How does the disarming spell work?” Riza asked.

The wizards knew how it affected wands, but not other weapons, so they did a test.

When cast on Riza, she tried to hold onto her gun but it flew out of her hands.

When cast on Roy, his gloves yanked his hands forwards, but stayed on.

When cast on Winry, her wrench stayed firmly in her hands.

“What is that, anyways?” Tonks asked.

“My wrench?”

“Yeah.”

Riza tucked away that information into the ever growing folder of things wizards didn’t know about. She hoped there was something in there, some bit of information, that would help make this mission easy.

“It’s a tool for tightening things, but it’s also good as a blunt force object.”

“Why didn’t expelliarmus work on it?”

“I suspect it’s because a wrench is not designed to be a weapon,” Minerva said. “Remember your Latin, Tonks.”

“Then what’s with the gloves?”

Roy pulled the gloves on tighter, then turned the embroidery to face the wizards.

“Alchemy requires the use of transmutation circles. This is the circle I use for combat.”

“Oh, like a wand.”

Roy inclined his head and lowered his hands. “I suppose they do perform similar functions, yes.”

“Can you show us?”

Roy snapped, and a yellow fire burst into existence in the fireplace.

“That’s like a secret wand in plain sight. It’ll be useful when we go save your friend,” Tonks said.

“What do you mean _we_?” Riza asked, a lilt of curiosity in her voice, softening what would otherwise be a harsh sentence.

“I’m going with you,” Tonks said.

Now, this was a pleasant surprise.

Tonks would be very useful. She could help them get past wards. She could cast shield spells for them. She could point out potential danger in whatever they’ve missed in their information gathering.

“Have you ever been in a combat situation, before?” Roy asked.

“I’m an auror, I have training.”

“But no combat experience?”

Tonks glared at Roy. “No,” she admitted. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“We’ll take any help we can get,” Riza said, shooting a look at Roy. 

The other wizards were cautiously eyeing Tonks, but said nothing. 

The clock chimed at noon, and Arthur stood up.

“Well, it’s time for me to go to work. Be careful,” he warned.

Arthur left through the door leading to the kitchen. The others began to stand up as well, claiming it was lunch time.

Riza was the last to move, and she pulled Roy aside for a moment alone.

“What are your thoughts, sir?”

“I want to strike tonight,” Roy said. “We’ve done more with less intel.”

Riza was thinking the exact same thing, but she had to make sure they were thinking things through.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked.

Roy sighed. 

“I just have a feeling we should act soon. We need to weigh the benefits of spending time learning all the details against the possibility of our intel changing if we wait too long. At least we know where he is, for now.”

Riza smiled. “I agree.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure what ranks Roy and Riza are at the end of the series, but I think this is close enough.
> 
> Also, thank you for all the sweet comments! I love reading them!!


	9. Holding on to Ideals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final preparations for the rescue

Winry tried to settle her stomach enough to eat lunch. She wanted to enjoy it. Molly had been kind enough to set up an elaborate charcuterie spread along with cheese and crackers. It was all too rich for her at the moment, though. The butterflies in her stomach were fluttering up to her throat. 

They were going to rescue Ed that night. They were going to rescue him —barring some horrible luck— and Winry hadn’t had a chance to think about what a rescue attempt entails, until now.

When Riza had announced their timeline, she had rested one hand on the gun on her hip. The gun that she was planning on using tonight. Winry was prepared to bash in some heads, but that was just to knock them out. Riza and Roy had fought in Ishval, and during Promised Day. They were no strangers to killing. Don’t get her wrong— Winry was thankful they were on her side. But…

She wasn’t sure she wanted to be in a deadly battle.

Her thoughts drifted to that day when she first met Scar.

She ran a finger along the wood grain of the table, picking up a few crumbs along the way. Her fingers were dotted with little scars. Most from making automail, one from her first time using the big knife in the kitchen. One from the time her hand got caught in the front door of her house. Ed and Al had cried more than she had when that’d happened. Her fingertips were calloused. All except the right index finger, which was bare thanks to the scar potion she’d taken from Severus. There was a dent in one finger —from years of work— that perfectly fit the curve of her screwdriver.

Winry had wanted to kill Scar for her parents, but Ed had pried the gun from her hands. Told her she was built for adding life to the world, not taking from it.

Winry reached out with her life-giving hands and grabbed a cracker from the pile.

As far as Winry knew, Ed had managed to get through his time in the military without killing anyone. The only exception was that immortal Father guy, and that was an exception Winry was happy to grant him. With Grumman as Fuhrer, the State Alchemist program was altered so Ed could stay on in a solely research capacity. He had never killed a human and was very happy to say so.

It was a good rule, and they had saved the country while following it. But Winry suspected that if Al were in a sufficient amount of danger, Ed would change his rule. She knew Al would have done so. No matter what anyone said, Al was the more ruthless brother.

She had to make a decision about what she was willing to do tonight.

Maybe she should talk to Riza about this.

Winry nibbled on the cracker while looking around the room. Arthur had left to go to work, and Molly left soon after to check on her children at home. Tonks appeared to be missing as well. Wait, no. She was just showing off her morphing skills to the others.

Riza stood up and slowly circled Tonks, squinting her eyes. Tonks’s disguising looks weren’t perfect (she wasn’t able to keep up with Riza’s movements behind her) but they were still neat.

“Is there a way we can be invisible?” Riza asked. “Or camouflaged, like you?”

“Harry has an invisibility cloak,” Sirius said with a wistful sigh.

“You can’t hide more than one full grown adult with that,” Remus said. “And we’re not supposed to bother Harry while he’s at home.”

Sirius crossed his arms and huffed.

“We could cast some disillusioning charms,” Tonks suggested, shifting her whole body to a soft yellow color. The wizard cast such a spell on her own arm. It melted into the background, but was still detectable when she moved.

“That’ll work.”

Riza placed her hands on her hips. Her shirt rode up enough to expose her side holster.

Winry put the unfinished cracker back on her plate, her mouth too dry to finish it.

  


* * *

  


The rest of the day passed by in a blur. 

They pored over the blueprints of the house, coming up with a dozen different routes for quick escape.

Minerva slipped out without a word and returned an hour later with a black case that rattled when she set it down. Inside the case was a set of glass vials. The contents varied in color, but there were groups of four for most of them.

“A healing potion, for Edward if he needs it—” Minerva pointed to the red vial— “energy booster for you four—” the green one— “a mild protective potion—” the blue one— “and a skin thickener,” she finished, pointing out a disgustingly orange one. She explained that it would lower the risk of injury from some minor spells. “It’s the best Madame Pomfrey had on such short notice. Take them before you go, and bring the healing one with you. Just in case.”

After that they discussed how they would get to and from the Malfoy Manor. Apparently, teleporting over there with only one wizard would be a hassle, and they didn’t know how far the wards around the house went, so it would be dangerous to teleport. The group had come to the final conclusion that muggle means of transport would be the best. So that means they would be taking a taxi to a spot near the location and walking the rest of the way.

Sirius and Remus helped them with what to expect from the Death Eaters. The gist of it was: don’t get hit. That’s the goal of all fights, so it wasn’t a big shocker to any of them.

Winry never got the chance to speak with Riza.

  


* * *

  


They left Grimmauld Place just as the sun set over the city.

The potions Minerva had given them were all disgusting. The skin thickener made Winry’s whole body feel like a callous. The protection potion tasted like motor oil. The energy potion was gritty, but Winry was thankful for the energy boost. She hadn’t been sleeping well for the past few days.

The taxi ride was quiet. Tonks couldn’t stop fidgeting, but Riza and Roy were like stone statues. Winry felt like her heart would burst out of her chest. She wanted to blame the energy potion for that.

They got out at an empty spot in the road under a moonless sky. The cab driver accepted their assortment of currencies without complaint and drove off. Within a minute they were alone on the side of the road. Old trees towered above them, their leaves blocking out the meagre light of the stars. The summer air was warm, but Winry felt chilled.

Tonks took the lead. Her wand provided both light and direction.

Winry couldn’t hear her footsteps over the thoughts spinning around her head.

Now that they were so close, she was finally allowing herself to wonder about Ed’s condition. Was he still alright, even after Severus had left? Was Severus’s definition of alright different from Winry’s? Was this some weirdly elaborate trap with Ed as bait? No, that didn’t make sense. No one could guarantee who would come looking for Ed. But the other questions still stood.

Tonks tripped over a tree root and fell backwards into Winry, knocking them both to the ground in a crash of leaves and limbs.

“Ouch!”

“Oof, sorry,” Tonks whispered. “I think we’re here.”

Riza helped Winry and Tonks back to their feet, and they took a look at the house in front of them.

Malfoy Manor was grand, but it didn’t hold a candle to the Armstrong Estate. Unless there was an elaborate underground component to the building, the Death Eater army couldn’t be very big. Winry felt her brain begin to merge the house before her with the blueprints she’d memorized. Tonks cast the disillusioning charm on the three Amestrians.

Winry could still tell where Riza and Roy were, but it was tougher when they held still. It was weirder to notice that she couldn’t see herself.

“I’ll go check it out, you three stay here,” Tonks said. The metamorphmagus shifted so her hair and skin blended in with the dark trees and vanished into the night.

Winry peered through the bushes on the hill to look down at the house.

Yellow light poured out from most windows, highlighting the various foreign plants in the garden. The two entrances to the house were visible from their vantage point on the hill. There was minimal movement inside. It looked like a fairly normal house.

A young teen walked past the window on the upper floor.

“What if we’ve got it all wrong?” Winry asked, a bubble of fear rising in her chest. The wrench felt cold in her hands. “What if these people are innocent?”

Riza, her eyes resolutely locked onto the house, answered.

“Bradley looked normal. As did Selim. You can’t trust appearances.”

Winry must have made a sound, because Riza suddenly turned to face her.

Her voice softened when she saw Winry’s stricken expression.

“Our main goal is getting Ed out. We’ll rely on stealth as much as we can. You can leave the rest to us.”

Winry shoved down the nervous feelings. An owl hooted in the distance.

A cracking sound behind them —apparation— made the trio turn around. There was a masked figure standing in the trees, pointing a wand at them. Winry leaped on instinct and bashed the person over the head with her wrench. The person went down with a soft thud.

Another crack announced the arrival of two more people, this time taken out by Riza with two quick hits.

A rustle from the direction of the house took their attention next.

“Don’t shoot! It’s me!”

Tonks turned her hair to a bioluminescent blue as she approached them.

“I think we activated the wards,” she hissed. “They know we’re here. Woah, you took out three of them.”

“We should move quickly, then,” Roy said.

Winry tore her eyes away from the masked figure she’d taken down. She spotted the ones Riza had shot. They weren’t dead, but they wouldn’t be joining the fight again any time soon.

Riza placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Riza asked, meaning, are you ready for this? Can you handle what we’re about to do?

That was a tough question, and she only had a moment to think of an answer.

Riza and Roy could probably each storm this place on their own and come out on top. But Winry knew she couldn’t just sit out here. And things don’t always work out they way they should. What if they needed her help?

Winry was able to help. She had a wrench and knew how to use it. She knew what kind of damage it could deal. But what if something went wrong? What if she killed someone? Just a minor miscalculation on a throw could mean big consequences.

Was she willing to risk that?

These people were willing to attack them without any warning. If the wizards were being honest, and Winry thought they were, these people had killed many innocent people. They deserved whatever was coming for them.

Winry took a deep breath. She didn’t have to kill anyone. Riza and Roy would take care of all of that, if necessary. But she was part of this, now. She would see it through to the end.

“I’m fine,” Winry said. “Let’s go save Ed!”

Riza gave her shoulder a tight squeeze, a small comfort.

The woods around them snapped with the sounds of new apparations. A dozen masked figures surrounded them and the fight began in earnest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so hard to write for some reason! But I already have half of the next one written, so it should be posted next week


	10. The Closet and the Dungeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winry and her team continue the attack at Malfoy Manor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've included some content warnings for this chapter in the end notes, just be warned they contain a spoiler!

Winry dodged behind a tree, narrowly missing a beam of light. Gunshots popped off to her left. A spell hit the tree and it splintered. Winry yelped and ducked.

She felt woefully unprepared with just her wrench. The others were performing amazing feats with their weapons. Tonks, with her wand. Riza, with her gun. Roy looked like he was almost having fun, even, burning clothes and hair with just a snap of his fingers.

The snap of a twig alerted Winry to someone approaching from her right. She whirled around, hesitating just enough to see the spooky mask, and bashed them over the head with her wrench.

Okay, she wasn’t doing too poorly with just her wrench.

But still… She wished this was different.

This was supposed to be a stealth mission. Sneak in, grab Ed, sneak out. A wrench was fine for that, but not great for a battle in the woods at night. If she threw it, she knew she would be able to hit anything she aimed for, but then she would be without a weapon. Maybe wizards could magic it so it would always return to her, but she hadn’t thought about asking for that earlier. So now she was stuck waiting for the Death Eaters to get close.

“My wand! He burnt my wand!”

Winry peered around her tree and caught sight of Roy’s face. His smug grin lasted only for a moment. A spell caught him in the chest and sent him flying through the trees. He landed in one of the bushes lining the house.

Riza killed the spellcaster.

Winry was unable to tear her eyes away from the sight. The bullet tore effortlessly through the Death Eater, sending the body to the ground in the blink of an eye. Winry felt awful. Her arms and lungs were overheated, but the rest of her torso was cold. She had to hold a hand over her mouth to fight the nausea.

An angry shout from the Death Eaters pulled her back into the current moment.

Riza took out the last ones standing. The forest grew quiet, only broken by harsh breaths.

“Go check on Roy,” Riza ordered.

Winry sprinted down the hill to where Roy was lying motionless.

She fell to her knees, dropping her wrench as she checked for a pulse.

He was okay. Still breathing. There was a burn cutting through his shirt, but his chest didn’t look too bad. Winry shook him awake.

“Oof, not fun,” Roy groaned. He held a hand to his chest and tried to sit up.

“You need to pay more attention, sir,” Riza said, approaching them. Her eyes widened, and she fell to a crouch just as a spell shattered the window behind Winry. The beam of light passed harmlessly over her head.

Tonks retaliated and sent a spell into the house, making the person inside yelp.

“See? Like that.”

“Right as always, Lieutenant Colonel,” Roy said.

Once Roy was ready to move, they hurried along the perimeter of the house, ducking beneath every window along the way. 

They made it to the entrance without any more trouble.

Inside, the foyer was separated from the rest of the house by a set of solid wooden doors. 

“We will follow the main hallway to the back of the house, and take the dungeon stairs on the right,” Riza said.

Tonks peeked her head through the doors.

“The coast is clear.”

The coast was not clear.

When the doors closed behind them, a swarm of Death Eaters poured out of the adjacent hallways. The air filled with smoke. Winry heard a thump, tripped, and ran into a wall.

She massaged the spot of her head where she hit the wall. When she opened her eyes, she was alone and in a new hallway. Looking behind her confirmed that the doors were no longer there.

She had to still be in the Malfoy house because the decor was the same, but she must have gotten lost in the smoke.

The portraits were staring at her.

“Excuse me,” Winry tried asking one of them, “do you know how to get to the dungeons?”

The portrait sneered at her. “I would never share any information with _you_.”

The others muttered words of agreement and sent more nasty looks at her.

She couldn’t blame them. She _had_ broken into their house, after all.

Winry looked out a window in an attempt to orient herself. She could have sworn she hadn’t gone up any stairs, yet the window told her she was not on the ground floor anymore.

She hurried along the hallway in search of a stairwell.

Sounds of a fight echoed elsewhere in the house. Somehow, it was both louder and quieter than it had been in the forest.

One of the doors rattled as she approached it. She slowed her pace. A loud thump on the door made her jump.

“Hello? Who’s in there?” Another thump answered her. Maybe it was one of her friends? She had gotten lost in the smoke, maybe someone else had as well. “Okay, I’m opening the door.”

She took a steadying breath and turned the knob.

The room was a small closet, dark and cramped. The person inside wasn’t someone she’d come here with, but was just as familiar to her. The bright gold hair, the dark clothes. The torn red cloak.  
“Ed!”

Winry leapt towards him, a smile blossoming on her face. Her smile faltered when she reached him, though.

He was so still.

Too still.

Winry knelt down by him. The ground was wet with something dark.

“Ed? Are you okay? C’mon, wake up.” Winry reached out a shaking hand out to him. His head rolled back, lifeless eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “No… no! No! Ed, no, this can’t be— ED!”

Blood poured out of a variety of wounds on his body. His skin was cold.

Winry screamed, tears spilling down her face.

“No! No! Ed—” her voice cracked, and she just succumbed to her sorrow.

She didn’t know how long she sat there crying. She would have stayed there forever if someone hadn’t found her.

The stranger poked at her shoulder with a wand.

“What are you doing in my house?”

Winry choked on her words, pointing at Ed’s body.

“Oh, him.”

The tears kept flowing, blurring her vision.

“Must be a boggart.” The stranger clucked his tongue. “House elves are slacking if they let one of those inside.”

Winry didn’t have a response to that.

The stranger sighed. He gently pulled Winry back, putting himself between her and Ed’s body. The corpse shifted, morphing into something else. Winry tried to wipe the tears from her blurry eyesight, but before she could it was gone.

The closet was empty. The floor was free of blood.

Winry finally looked at the stranger. It was the teenager in the window she had spotted earlier.

“Where’d he—?” Winry waved a hand at the closet.

“That was the guy in the dungeon, right? He’s still alive.”

Winry hurriedly wiped her face dry and stood up on unsteady knees. The teenager watched her lazily. While Ed’s eyes burned with gold, this kid’s eyes were as cold as steel.

“You must be here to rescue him,” he said. “Follow me.”

He turned and began to walk down the hallway without waiting for a response.

“Why are you helping me?” Winry asked, following him.

The teenager sighed.

“He’s only been here a week and he’s already escaped multiple times. He completely _ruined_ a potion I was working on when he destroyed some walls. Plus, he’s _so annoying_.”

Winry huffed out a wet laugh.

“Yep, that’s Ed, alright.”

The teenager stopped them at the top of a stairwell.

“Just go straight down here. Get him, and get out.”

“Thanks for your help,” Winry said.

“Yeah, well… whatever. I’m doing this for myself, you know.”

“Still, thank you. You should get out of here, if you want to stay safe.”

The teenager sniffed haughtily, but he nodded. Then he turned on his heel and left.

  


* * *

  


Winry caught up with the rest of her team on the ground floor. The walls and ceiling were covered in soot. Fancy vases lay in piles of shards on the ground. The air was hot, and Winry didn’t let herself think about what the smells meant.

Tonks had a cut under her eye. Roy had a hand still clenched to his chest. Riza’s clothes were dotted with slashes, but her stance was steady. Riza and Roy continued to fire down the hallway while Tonks maintained a shield for them. There weren’t many Death Eaters left standing, but those who were were strong fighters.

“What happened to you?” Tonks asked. “You look awful.”

Winry sniffled. Her face felt raw from the tears, and a headache was thudding behind her temples.

“I ran into a, um… gobbart?”

“Boggart?”

“I guess.” 

Tonks sucked air in through her teeth. “That’s rough. I guess we forgot to warn you about those.”

“Yeah.”

The shield cracked, but Tonks was quick to replace it.

“Tonks, Winry, you two go on ahead. We’ll hold them off,” Roy ordered.

“But, the shields—”

“We can handle it. Go get Ed so we can get out of here.”

The air grew cold as they descended. The fancy rug on the stairs kept their footsteps from echoing. As they reached the bottom, Winry heard a voice. She shuddered at the sound of it. There was something inhuman about it.

The voice was threatening someone.

Winry held her wrench at the ready and stepped fully into the basement room. 

There was a tall bald man with his back to her, facing a cell with wand in hand. A thump from upstairs sent a stream of dust down on the bald man’s head. Enraged by the minor annoyance, he held up his wand and shouted out a curse that made someone in the shadowy depths of a cell yelp. 

That yelp was so familiar, but Winry wouldn’t let herself confirm it until she saw him with her own eyes.

Winry threw her wrench and the man crumpled to the ground, a large welt on the back of his head.

“Gotcha!” Winry cheered viciously. Her aim had always been true, but she’d never been more thankful for her hand-eye coordination than now.

She ran up to the fallen figure and stomped on the wand in his limp grip, snapping it in half.

“Winry?”

Winry turned to look into the cell. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw a figure sitting in the darkest corner with a familiar antenna on the top of his head.

“Ed!”

Ed met her gaze, gold eyes catching the candlelight and glowing brightly. He was alive!

“Winry!” he grinned. A frown quickly replaced the smile though. “What are you doing here? These guys are bad news!”

“What am _I_ doing here?” Winry asked. “What are _you_ doing here! You promised to stay out of trouble and yet you managed to get kidnapped by a cult!”

“I was gonna break out,” Ed grumbled. 

Winry raised an eyebrow at Ed, but inside she was delighted. It was so nice to see him again! It was going to take her some time to get over the encounter with the boggart, but she felt her heartache ease with every word of their silly argument.

“I was!” he protested. “I did escape a couple times, but they somehow knocked me out without even touching me and now I’m stuck.”

He _was_ stuck. His hands and feet were firmly chained to the wall, giving him no wiggle room.

“Let’s get you out, then.”

Winry turned to ask Tonks to help, but Tonks wasn’t there. She had frozen on the stairs.

“That’s— that’s you-know-who,” she gasped.

_That’s_ Voldemort? The leader of these Death Eaters? Winry had expected more of a fight from this guy.

“Yep, I’ve been calling him Bulb Head. Like a fleshy lightbulb,” Ed said. “It doesn’t have the same ring as Scar, but it really pissed him off.”

Tonks’s jaw dropped at that.

“You… _antagonized_ you-know-who? And you’re still alive?”

“I’ve faced worse. Now, a little help here?” Ed wiggled his legs, the automail one clanging against the shackles.

Footsteps pounding down the stairs jolted Tonks out of her stupor. She and Winry stood at the ready.

It was just Roy and Riza, though.

Riza split off to do a search of the rest of the dungeon while Roy walked over and peered into the cell.

“Bastard’s here too?!”

“Winry asked for help because she’s smart, Fullmetal.” Roy tapped a finger against the metal bars. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Roy reached his hands into his pockets. Ed groaned.

“What?” Roy asked.

“You’re looking for chalk, aren’t you? Just clap your hands and do it. You take forever to draw your circles!”

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled sharply.

“I do not!”

“Do too!”

“Drawing circles out is a perfectly serviceable method of—”

“Ugh! I don’t understand why you don’t ju—”

“The rest of the room is clean,” Riza interrupted. She kept her gun in her hands. 

Roy looked at the gun.

Riza raised an eyebrow at him.

Ed was free moments later, the stone walls of the dungeon still echoing with the sounds of Roy’s claps.

Winry rushed into the cell behind Roy. She scooped up Ed into a hug tight enough to feel his heart beat against her chest. He was alive! Really alive! She felt his smile against her cheek, his trembling hands against her back.

“I’m so happy to see you,” Ed said quietly to Winry.

“Me too,” she said to him. “I was so scared.”

Ed squeezed her tighter, then released.

It was hard to see his face in the shadows, but he looked okay. Maybe a little bruised, but not too bad.

Winry had to help Ed to his feet. She was worried about that, but decided it could wait till they were in a safer location. They shared a quick kiss before rejoining the others.

“Hey, where did Bulb Head go?” Ed asked.

They looked down at Voldemort. The man was gone. Dark clothes and a broken wand were all that remained.

“That’s… not good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warnings: injuries typical of battle in FMAB, some mention of nausea but no vomit, main character death but it’s really just a boggart, and Death Eaters dying
> 
> Next chapter (if my rough draft is right...): Dumbledore's gonna be pissed!


	11. Dumbledore is Pissed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Amestrians and Tonks head back to Grimmauld Place and Dumbledore finds out what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of swearing now that Ed's here

Voldemort was gone, disappeared right before their eyes. You’d think the concussion that Winry had given him would have slowed him down. And you’d think he’d take his clothes with him…

Winry looked around the dungeon for the missing evil wizard. All she saw were a few bugs skittering along the floor and the tail end of a snake rapidly disappearing through a hole in the wall. The hole wasn’t large enough for a person to go through, however, and there was no where else the wizard could be hiding. Tonks was still standing by the exit, so she would have seen him go past her.

“Did he… leave? Or disintegrate?” Ed asked.

Everyone looked at Tonks. This had to be some weird wizard thing.

“Don’t look at me! I don’t know,” she said, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck. “Everyone’s always said he has strange powers. The night when he was first defeated —like, 15 years ago— people said he just vanished then, as well.”

“Great, maybe he’ll stay gone for another 15 years, then,” Roy said.

“I don’t know,” Tonks worried. “There’s been… whispers. Something about a prophecy. I don’t know what it says, but it’s about Voldemort. I don’t think what happened tonight was supposed to happen.”

“I’m happy with it!” Ed said. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

They hurried up and out of the house. Roy and Tonks led the way, ready to blast any hidden Death Eaters out of their path. Riza lagged behind to pick up Voldemort’s discarded robes and broken wand. Ed kept his arm around Winry as they made their way out of the house.

Winry remembered the healing potion Minerva had given them when they reached the woods. Ed complained about the taste, but it helped him a lot. Ed grew more steady with every step, but still clung to Winry. She didn’t mind one bit.

They stopped when Tonks was sure they were clear of the wards. They were no longer trying to sneak around so they could use magic to get back. Tonks had to make multiple trips to apparate them all. She took Winry first.

They landed outside Grimmauld Place as the sun began to rise. Winry hadn’t realized how much time the fight had taken, though maybe she lost some time when she got lost in the smoke. Tonks popped back with Ed right away, and Minerva met them outside to let Ed into the wards. Tonks left to get the others while Winry and Ed went inside.

Minerva directed them to the living room.

“You must be Edward,” Minerva said, examining him closely. “Welcome to Grimmauld Place. How are you feeling?”

Ed shrugged. “I’ll survive,” he said. Minerva pursed her lips, but nodded.

“I guess that’s fine for now, but I will be finding a healer for you. Who knows what those horrible Death Eaters did…” Minerva said. She reached out and dusted Ed’s shoulder. It didn’t do much —his clothes were filthy all over— but it was a kind gesture. “I have to go call Dumbledore. You two wait here.”

Minerva left, headed down the hallway to the kitchen.

Winry pushed Ed over to the couches and had him sit down. Ed melted into the cushions, sinking deep in the old upholstery.

Winry knelt on the floor and set to work examining his automail leg. It needed to be cleaned and oiled, but was otherwise in good condition. The tracking device was fine, as well. Winry wasn’t sure why it hadn’t been very useful in finding Ed. Maybe that was part of the wards around the house, hiding from tracking devices. It wouldn’t surprise her.

She suddenly realized how lucky it was that she even managed to find him, not to mention being able to rescue him without anyone on her team getting seriously injured. Winry had never been part of a fight like that, before. Not really. She remembered the time when Ed and Al set a trap for Scar. And the time in Briggs with Kimblee. She had been close to those fights but not part of them. What happened tonight was different. It was terrifying, not knowing for certain that she would survive. Not knowing if the others would.

Tears began to fill her eyes as her brain swirled around, thinking about all the horrible outcomes that could have happened tonight. Winry looked up at Ed, at the bruised circles under his closed eyes and the slight hungry look to his cheeks. A few tears spilled down her cheeks. The image of the boggart filled her mind. Ed could have died. Alone. In a strange country surrounded by cruel people.

No. He was safe. Everything was okay. She got him back in one piece. He was definitely hiding some pain (why can’t he ever admit when he’s hurt?), but she knew how to read through his masks and he wasn’t horribly injured. If he wanted to pretend he was okay, Winry was willing to pretend as well. For a little while, at least. She could make him talk later. She wiped her face dry and put on a smile.

“Your leg is intact, for once,” Winry teased forcefully.

Ed cracked an eye open to look at her.

“I don’t destroy it that often!”

“Mmm hmm.”

“I don’t!”

“Just keep telling yourself that!”

“You wish it was broken, that way you could take all my research money for your automail shop.”

Winry and Ed glared at each other, then burst out into giggles.

Yeah, he was going to be just fine. Winry gave him a more genuine smile and patted his leg.

“Your leg does need some maintenance, though. I’ll go get my kit from upstairs.”

  


* * *

  


When Winry returned, the others were back and talking to Ed.

“So, you’ve been getting into fights on your research trip,” Roy said.

Roy, flanked by Riza and Tonks, crowded around Ed. Winry covertly checked everyone over as she entered the room. Roy’s chest wound was the worst injury from the night. Riza and Tonks both had mild cuts on their exposed skin, and Tonks had a bruise on her chin (but that might have been from her clumsiness). Not too bad for a fight with that many opponents.

“Not on purpose!” Ed protested.

“Sure,” Roy said, rolling his eyes.

“Wait, what happened?” Winry asked, pushing her way past the others to the couch.

“There was a fight. I stepped in to help. Someone knocked me out and I woke up in that dungeon.”

“Was the fight on the street with the train station?” Winry asked, setting her kit on a coffee table.

“Yeah, actually.”

“I knew it!” Winry sat down next to Ed and opened the kit, pulling out some tools. “I heard there was a fight out there, and saw some transmutation marks. But no one could remember any details of what happened.”

“The department of secrecy would be the cause of that,” said Tonks.

“Department of secrecy?”

“Ministry employees who modify memories of muggles to keep wizards secret,” Tonks said. She gave Ed a scrutinizing look. “I’m surprised anyone remembered anything.”

Winry’s jaw dropped. No one had said anything earlier about memory modification being a thing! Of course, no one had said anything about boggarts, either. These wizards were creepy, coming up with things like that. She shivered at the thought, then began maintenance on Ed’s leg.

“Whoop-dee-doo, your brain washers missed a spot,” Ed said sarcastically. “Maybe if you didn’t mess with people heads, I wouldn’t have been stuck as long.”

“It’s very important to keep the muggles from finding out about magic!” Tonks argued.

Ed and Roy scoffed at the same time.

“Well, it is!”

“Do you know why they kidnapped you?” Riza asked, steering the conversation back on topic.

Ed huffed, his breath sending his bangs into the air for a moment.

“Well?” Roy asked.

“They wanted my alchemy,” Ed said.

“But I don’t understand, why would they want that when they have magic?” Tonks asked.

“Maybe they were pissed I was kicking their asses,” Ed said.

“But they still managed to capture you,” Roy pointed out.

“I was outnumbered! They were coming out of nowhere. But I took a lot of them down, and I got them to leave those other people alone, so I still feel like I won.”

“Wait, they were attacking muggles in broad daylight?” Tonks asked.

“What are muggles?” Ed asked.

“Non-magic folk.”

“How am I supposed to tell? They just looked like normal people being attacked by people in hooded cloaks.”

“They were probably muggles, then. They’re getting started faster than we thought. It’s only been a few weeks since…” Tonks trailed off, biting her lip. “I’ll go tell McGonagall.”

Tonks left the room, and Riza and Roy sat down in chairs that were as filthy as the couch Ed and Winry occupied.

“So, where’s Al?” Ed asked.

Roy —who was in the process of waving a cloud of dust away from his face— froze, his shoulders taut.

“ _Mustang_ ,” Ed growled when he got no response.

“Well, I’d imagine he’s still in Xing,” Roy said, finally.

“Oh. Did he say why he wasn’t coming to look for me?” Ed actually looked a little hurt at that thought.

“Not exactly.”

Ed leaned forward, squinting at Roy, examining his expression for any information.

“You didn’t tell him,” Ed gasped. “You bastard!”

“We weren’t even sure that you were kidnapped! It was highly possible that you had simply lost track of the days, or that you had gotten annoyed with sending in status updates.”

“Hey! I’ve gotten better at that!”

“Besides, Al is so far away, Fullmetal, it—”

“But you told Winry. You even brought her with you. Why did you bring her?”

“He sent me on my own, Ed,” Winry said. She finished the leg’s maintenance and put her tools away.

“What! Why?”

“She said she had a way to find you, and without any proof that you were actually missing, no one on my team was available to go looking at the time.”

Ed paused, and turned to face Winry.

“A way to find me? What does that mean?”

Winry blushed and crossed her arms. She couldn’t keep her eyes from flicking to Ed’s leg.

“Um…”

“Winry.”

“I… may have, um, putatrackingdeviceinyourautomail,” she rushed out the last half of the sentence in one breath.

Ed blinked, eyes wide. When he processed what she’d said, he burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, really?” he asked.

“Don’t laugh at me, Edward! You keep getting into trouble, and I wanted to make sure I would always be able to find you. You’re better at calling than when we were younger, but I still remember the time after Briggs, when you were gone for so long. I didn’t even know for sure if you were alive! I couldn’t let that happen again, so… tracking device.”

Ed’s smile slid off his face, replaced by guilt.

“Winry, I’m so sorry. But you know why I had to hide, then.”

“I know, Ed. And it’s okay. But still, I can’t lose you like that again.”

He reached over and wrapped his hand around hers.

“So… is there a tracking device on Al, too?” Ed teased.

“You’re the only one who needs one, Ed. It was malfunctioning though, so I couldn’t get an exact location and I had to go asking around for you. That’s actually how I met these wizard people.”

A knock on the doorframe called everyone’s attention. 

Molly stood in the doorway. The soft lighting did a decent job of hiding the dark circles under her eyes, but they were still visible from a distance. Winry wondered if she’d been waiting up all night for them to get back. Her eyes zeroed in on Ed.

“You must be Edward,” she said. She opened her mouth as if to say something else, but the words remained formless on her lips, filling the air with an awkward silence.

“You can just call me Ed,” Ed said, finally.

“Right. Well. Dumbledore’s on his way,” Molly announced. “We’re meeting in the dining room.”

They all trudged over there, exhausted after staying up all night fighting and walking through the forest.

Sirius was perched on the dining table, next to Remus who was tiredly drinking from a ceramic mug. Minerva was standing by the fireplace, occasionally glancing at the flames.

“Hey, welcome back from the battle! Tell us everything,” Sirius insisted.

“Let them wait until Dumbledore arrives. I’m sure it’s a long story,” Remus said.

“Who, exactly, is this Dumbledore guy?” Ed asked, taking a seat along with the other Amestrians at the table.

“He’s the greatest wizard of our time,” Molly said. “He’s the only one You-Know-Who is scared of.”

“Who?” Ed asked.

“Voldemort,” Roy said.

“Ah. Old bulb head. I’ve faced worse.”

“You-you’ve…? Are you serious?” Remus asked.

“No, I’m Sirius,” Sirius joked.

Remus facepalmed. “Every time,” he muttered.

To Ed’s confused face, Sirius explained that that was a pun with his name. The others introduced themselves as well, then they got back to the meat of the conversation.

“So, why wasn’t Dumbledore part of the rescue tonight?” Ed asked.

“Dumbledore didn’t approve it,” Molly said. “He doesn’t even know you all went through with it.”

Ed scowled.

“What was it like?” Tonks blurted out.

“What, being kept there?”

“Yeah.”

“It wasn’t that bad. They didn’t like my escape attempts, but I’ve faced worse than them.”

At their expectant looks, he elaborated.

“They mostly just kept me locked up with someone keeping an eye on me. I’m more stiff than anything.” Ed’s stomach rumbled. “And the food was terrible.”

Molly’s hard face melted at that. It was pretty obvious that he meant they hadn’t been feeding him well at all.

“Oh you poor dear, you must be starving. I’ll go whip something up,” Molly offered.

She must have used magic to make the food, because she was back and they were eating by the time Dumbledore arrived.

  


The elderly wizard whirled into the room with a pop.

“What is it you needed to discuss, Minerva?” he asked.

Then his eyes landed on the Amestrians. A few emotions dashed across his face before he landed on cool anger mixed with a bit of forced pity. It wasn’t a pleasant sight.

“I thought I made it clear: I do not endorse storming the Death Eater’s hideout just to rescue one person. It may be a tragedy, but we must think of the big picture. We cannot risk the large loss that would be certain if we attempted that. And I fail to see how four muggles, one young enough to still be in school—” he gestured to Ed, there, “—could possibly be enough to take on the Death Eater headquarters.”

Ed tried to yell that he wasn’t that young, but his face was stuffed with bread, so his cries were muffled.

“Albus, they—” Minerva started.

“Did you know about this?” he asked, turning to face her. “Where you the one who invited them all here? We are not running a lost and found, here, Minerva. This is our headquarters, but it cannot remain so if every Tom, Dick, and Sally are invited inside!”

Minerva’s face grew stony. She drew herself up to her full height, like an angered cat, and faced Dumbledore head on.

“Sit down and listen to what they have to say, Albus.”

Dumbledore visibly re-centered himself, pulling his emotions down until they were simmering under the surface.

As the only Amestrian who had met Dumbledore, Winry spoke first. “We already went on our rescue mission. This is Ed.”

  


* * *

  


Winry hadn’t had the best first impression of Albus Dumbledore to begin with. However, that was nothing compared to the way he behaved after hearing what they had done.

Pretty soon, the whole room was yelling. The voices overlapped, arguments mixing until they were impossible to follow.

“I can’t believe you—”

“We need to trust—”

“You all still treat me like a child, even though I’m an Auror!”

“You went behind our backs—”

“They didn’t even—”

“‘Not worth the risk?’ Saving people is _always_ worth the risk.”

“I’ll show you! I’ll finish this war for you!”

“ _Silencio_.”

The sudden lack of noise sent Winry’s ears ringing. Minerva, wand out, sent disapproving looks to all of them.

“We are trying this again, but this time we will be _respectful_ and _listen_ to each other.”

Minerva waited for everyone to sit back down before releasing the spell.

“Start from the beginning,” Minerva ordered.

So they told Dumbledore what happened.

  


“…but it wasn’t working right, it just led me to London and I had to go looking for Ed on my own,” Winry said.

“Places with high levels of magic have a bad habit of interfering with muggle technologies,” Minerva explained.

“What? Then how is Ed’s automail working?”

“Well, clocks work, as long as they’re not digital.”

“That’s weird. And annoying. So, anyways, then…”

  


“…it must have been my third escape attempt. They hadn’t expected me to break through the walls,” Ed laughed.

“And they didn’t kill you on sight?” Sirius asked, delighted by the story.

Ed smirked. “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

“What happened next?”

“I punched the one closest to me, and kicked another one in the…”

  


“…mist, and then I was in a completely different part of the house!”

“I suspect that was one of the experimental spells created by the Death Eaters,” Dumbledore mused. He was still visible agitated, but had calmed down enough to participate in the conversation. “It could be a combination of things, perhaps a confusion spell mixed with time loss, or maybe a misdirection spell, or maybe something else entirely.”

“Hmm, okay. Well, then I went looking for the others…”

  


“…and we looked down and he was just gone.”

“He left behind a pile of robes, though.”

“That’s nasty. Bulb Head wandering around naked,” Ed shivered.

The wizards looked incredulous at Ed’s comment. They were going to disintegrate if they kept getting phased by his comments.

“Did anyone see anything?” Dumbledore asked. Restless nerves sent him leaning forwards in his chair, eyes searching their faces intently.

“No.”

“Maybe he apparated away,” Molly suggested.

“Couldn’t’ve. Winry broke his wand,” Tonks said.

“Were there any other exits, perhaps? Like a secret door?”

“There was a hole in the wall, but it wasn’t big enough for a person,” Winry said.

“How big was it?”

Winry held up her hands, indicating a small circle.

The wizards muttered and moaned thinking about this problem.

“How could someone without a wand leave someplace undetected?” Remus asked suddenly, staring pointedly at Sirius.

It took the man a few seconds to realize the question was directed to him.

“Oh!” Sirius said, eyes widening. “What if he were an animagus?”

“What is that?”

“Behold!” Sirius said. He stood up on his chair and turned into a dog.

Winry froze in her chair, eyes nearly bugging out of her head.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Ed shrieked, pure horror on his face. Even Roy looked a little green around the edges.

The dog melted back into a human once again.

“Ah, right, I forgot you lot aren’t wizards.”

“No! No! This can’t be something normal for you!”

“It’s not terribly common,” Minerva said, “But I’m an animagus as well.”

Ed looked at her in dismay.

Minerva stood up and transformed into a cat, leaping up on the table.

“Wha— who did this to you?” Ed asked. His eyes were locked onto Minerva’s feline form as she walked across the table.

Sirius furrowed his brow at Ed.

“We did it to ourselves. It’s a difficult bit of magic, and takes a lot of preparation, but it’s worth the effort for some wizards.”

Ed gulped a few times. His hand reached for Winry’s under the table and she gave it a firm squeeze.

“And, and you’re okay? Does it hurt?” Ed asked.

“It’s just like putting on a jacket,” Sirius said.

Ed nodded, still frowning. Roy called attention away from Ed by bringing up chimeras and asking about the difference between them and animagi. Gradually, the conversation circled back around to Voldemort.

“What could his animagus form be?”

“It’s got to be a snake. We’ve all seen the bloody dark mark. He’s obsessed!” Sirius exclaimed.

“Sirius, you know quite well that animagus forms are not a conscious choice,” Minerva scolded. “It’s based on a number of factors, and only Albus knows his mind well enough to be able to guess.”

“…There was a snake in the dungeon,” Winry said hesitantly. 

Albus stroked his beard. “I suspect Miss Rockbell is right.”

“Ha! See?” Sirius clapped.

“Oh no,” Tonks moaned. “That means he’s still out there.”

“But I broke Voldemort’s wand,” Winry pointed out. “I thought you wizards needed those things to do magic. He can’t be much of a threat now.”

Several of the wizards shivered when she said that name, but Dumbledore held her gaze.

“You broke his wand?” Dumbledore asked.

“Yes,” Winry nodded.

“And I have it right here,” Riza added. She extracted the broken wand from the pile of Voldemort’s robes. She passed the bits to Winry so she could hand them off to Dumbledore.

However, the moment the wand landed in Winry’s hands, it moved. Copper-colored sparks, like those that appear when grinding metal, stuttered out of the wood.

“Eeek!” Winry yelped. She tossed the wand onto the table and the sparks stopped.

She looked up and all eyes were on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winry can have a little magic, as a treat!
> 
> Thank y’all for the comments and kudos! I read them all, even if I don’t respond!
> 
> Also, wow! That took longer than expected to write. This chapter had so many potential branching off points that I had trouble picking which path to head down. In my first outline for this, I had originally planned for Voldemort to die from Winry’s wrench attack and then come back to life again so he would be there for the final showdown, but I got bored planning out the details of that story. So, I switched it to having Voldemort escape and now I’m excited for where the story is heading. I hope y’all will like it!


End file.
